THE WORKS
OF GEORGE BULL, D.D.
LORD BISHOP OF ST. DAVID'S,
COLLECTED AND REVISED
BY
THE REV. EDWARD BURTON, D.D.
FORMERLY STUDENT, AFTERWARDS CANON OF CHRIST CHURCH AND
REGIUS PROFESSOR OF DIVINITY.
TO WHICH IS PREFIXED
THE LIFE OF BISHOP BULL,
BY
ROBERT NELSON, ESQ.
SECOND EDITION.
OXFORD:
AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS.
MDCCCXLVI.
PREFACE,
REVIOUS to stating the plan and the contents
of the present edition of the Works of bishop
Bull, some account may be given of the former
editions of his works, whether printed separately or
collectively.
In 1670 he published at London the Harmonia
Apostolica in a small 4to. volume. It was reprinted
at Basle in 1740. in 8vo.
In 1676 he published at London the Examen
Censures and Apologia in one volume 4to.
In 1685 he published at Oxford the Defensio
Fidei Niccente in one volume 4to. It has been
reprinted at Amsterdam".
In 1694 he published at Oxford the Jiidicium
Ecdesia; Catholicce, in one volume 8vo.
In 1703 the four preceding works were published
at London b by John Ernest Grabe, in one volume
folio, together with a new tract, Primitiva et Apo
stolica Traditio, &c.
a The Qth chapter of the second section is printed at the end
of the fourth volume of the Benedictine edition of Origen.
b The bishop of Salisbury (in the preface to a work published
in the present year) speaks of the university of Oxford having-
repvblished Bulls Harmonia Apostolica with his whole works. The
a 2
iv PREFACE.
In 1705 Dr. George Hickes published a work in
two volumes, entitled, Several Letters which passed
between Dr. G. H. and a popish Priest, &c. In
the first volume, p. 225, &c., he inserted a work
which was written by Dr. Bull, entitled, The Cor
ruptions of the Church of Rome, &c., an account of
which may be seen in Nelson's Life of Bull, p. 329-
Dr. Hickes observes in his preface, that an imperfect
abstract of this work had stolen into print, but that
he now published it with the author's consent. I
have not been able to meet with this imperfect ab
stract ; but in the History of the Works of the
Learned, 1703, p. 610. T find notice of a book with
the following title, The Wonders of the Bishop of
Meaux upon the perusal of Dr. Bull's Booh con
sidered and answered; and it is not improbable,
that this is the work alluded to by Dr. Hickes c.
The Corruptions of the Church of Rome had ap
parently a rapid sale ; for I have seen a second edi
tion of it printed in 1707 in 12mo, a third in 1708,
and a fourth in 1714 in 8vo. In all these later edi-
bishop probably alluded to Grabe's edition, forgetting that it was
printed, not in Oxford, but in London. The Harmonia Aposto-
lica was never printed at Oxford till now ; and the university
never published any edition of Bull's worts before the present
one.
c I have seen notice in a London Catalogue of the Corruptions
of the Church of Rome bearing date 1697. But this must cer
tainly be a mistake, since Bossuet's letter, which called forth this
reply, was not written till 1700.
PREFACE. v
tions an appendix was added, containing the Differ
ences between the Churches of England and Rome,
by bishop Cousins, and the Creed of pope Pius IV.
The work was also reprinted by Dr. Burgess, the
present bishop of Salisbury, in the year 1813d; and
again in the present year (1827) at the end of a
small volume entitled, A Review and Analysis of
Bishop Bull's Exposition of the Doctrine of Justi
fication, by Robert Nelson, Esq., extracted from his
Life of Bishop Bull. It was also printed in 1814
in the second volume of the collection of tracts,
entitled, The Churchman armed against the Errors
of the Time, p. 51.
In 1713, when the bishop had been dead nearly
three years, Robert Nelson published an edition of
his English Works in three volumes 8vo, the title
being, Some important Points of primitive Christ
ianity maintained and defended, in several Ser
mons and other Discourses, together with a fourth
volume containing his Life. None of these Works
had hitherto appeared in print. They consisted of
twenty Sermons, four Discourses in English upon
d At the end of the same pamphlet was printed what was con
sidered to be an original and unpublished letter of bishop Bull,
from the archiepiscopal library at Lambeth, N°. 934. article 71,
endorsed, '•' Copy, Mr. Archdeacon Bull's Lr. Jan. 1705." But
it is evident, by an inspection of the letter, that it was not written
by bishop Bull, but by his son, who was made archdeacon when
his father was elected bishop in 1705, and the date of this letter
should be i 70^, i. e. i 706.
vi PREFACE.
different subjects, and a fifth Discourse written in
Latin, entitled, Breves Animadversiones in Trac-
tatum Gilbert! Clerke, of which there is also an
English translation, apparently made by Nelson.
The work had a rapid sale, and a second edition of
the Life was published in 1714. All the four vor
lumes may be found with title-pages of this date ;
but upon inspection it will appear, that the volume
containing the Life was the only one which was re
printed e. Some few alterations were made in the
second edition. A difference will be found at p. 53;
but as far as p. 406. the two editions were made ex
actly to correspond in their pages ; in this place there
is a slight alteration about the burial of Dr. Grabe,
and from hence to the end the paging is different.
This edition was reprinted at Oxford by Baxter, in
1816, in three volumes 8vo. ; but the editor appears
not to have been aware that the Life of Bull had
been published in 1714 as well as in 1713, and he
printed from the latter ; consequently the alterations,
which had been introduced in the second edition,
are not found in the reprint made at Oxford f.
e I have seen notice in London Catalogues of the works of
Bull in three volumes 1719, and in two volumes 1725. If there
is no mistake in these dates, the former copy had probably only a
new title-page : but the mention of two volumes is unquestionably
wrong. All the three volumes of Nelson's edition were paged
throughout, and could not be separated.
f Copious extracts from Nelson's Life of Bull have been
printed by the bishop of Salisbury in the work already mentioned,
page v.
PREFACE.
vn
In 1714 a volume in small 8vo. was published in
London, entitled, A Companion for the Candidates
of Holy Orders ; or, the great Importance and
principal Duties of the priestly Office ; the contents
of which were a Visitation Sermon by bishop Bulk,
together with his Charge to his Dioceseh, and his
Circular Letter to the Clergy '. This volume pro
bably was not in such great demand as was ex
pected ; for I have seen a book bearing date 1715,
and entitled, The Archbishop of Cambray's pastoral
Letter, concerning the Love of God, together with
the Opinions of the Fathers on the same Subject :
to which is added a circular Letter by George
Bull, D. D., late Lord Bishop of St. David's, his
Visitation Sermon, and his Charge to his Diocese;
published by Robert Nelson, Esq. These tracts of
bishop Bull are the same which compose the Com
panion for the Candidates of Holy Orders ; and
they were not reprinted in 1715, but the identical
book, which had been published separately in 1714,
was now bound up with the archbishop of Cambray's
Letter; and we learn from the title-page of the
latter work that Nelson was the editor. These
three tracts of bishop Bull have been printed several
times in Oxford at the Clarendon press, in The
Clergyman's Instructor.
S Published in vol. I. p. 137. of this edition.
h Published in vol. II. p. 17.
' Published in the Life, p. 377.
via PREFACE,
In 1719 Robert Bull, son of the bishop, published
at London in one volume 8vo. A Vindication of the
Church of England from the Errors and Corrup
tions of the Church of Rome. This treatise was
written by his father, and found by accident, as
stated in the preface k. Some copies of it may be
seen with the date of 1724 ; but they evidently be
long to the same edition, and the only real alteration
was a new title-page.
In 1721, the folio volume, which Grabe had edited,
containing the Latin works of Bull, was reprinted
at London, by Bowyer, in rather a smaller size.
The Latin tract against G. Clerke, which had been
first published by Nelson in 1713, was introduced
into this edition.
The second and third Sermons were published in
1765 by Leonard Chappellow, B. D. (See vol. I.
p. 82. of this edition.)
It may be added, that some of the bishop's Latin
works have been translated into English. I have
already mentioned, that the tract against G. Clerke
was translated by Nelson, and published by him in
English as well as Latin in 1713.
In 1725, the three treatises concerning the Tri
nity, which were published by Grabe in his folio
volume, were translated by the rev. Francis Holland
in two volumes 8vo. ; and either a new edition, or
k See Life of Bull, p. 66.
PREFACE. ix
(what is more probable) a new title-page was put
forth in 1730.
In 1801 the Harmonia Apostolica was translated
by Wilkinson ; and the book bore the title of Har
monia Apostolica, or the Agreement of Paul and
James.
In 1825 a translation of the Judicium Ecclesice
Catholicce was published by the rev. T. Ran kin in
one volume, 8vo. London.
These are all the publications of bishop Bull's
works which I have been able to meet with, or of
which I have seen any account ; and the object of
the present edition is to bring together all his ori
ginal works which have ever appeared. It will have
been observed from the statement given above, that
this has never yet been done. Bowyer's reprint of
Grabe's edition contains all the Latin treatises ; and
the collection of the English Works, made by Nel
son, is the only one which has yet been undertaken ;
but Nelson did not print the Corruptions of the
Church of Rome, and he had not seen the Vindi
cation of the Church of England. Both these
treatises will be found in the present edition.
The elaborate Life of Bull, written by Nelson,
has also been reprinted, and forms a separate vo
lume. I have added whatever additional notices
could be found concerning the bishop ', but I have
1 The principal additions consist of some extracts from the
Life of John Roberts, a quaker, p. 69, £c., and an original letter
x PREFACE.
nowhere altered the words of Nelson, or corrected
his statements. Whatever new matter is introduced,
will be found in the notes inclosed in brackets [ ] ;
and throughout the whole of this edition the plan
has been followed of marking every additional anno
tation in this manner. At the end of the Life I
have added an Index of the principal persons and
things therein mentioned ; to which I have prefixed
in one page a list of the most important events in
the bishop's life, marking the year in which they
happened, and the page in which they are men
tioned.
Every thing that Nelson published in his three
volumes will be found in the first two volumes of
this edition, excepting the fourth Discourse, which
contains the tract against G. Clerke. This being
written in Latin, is placed at the end of the Latin
works m; and though the next and last Discourse
thus becomes the fourth in the present edition, it is
still called the fifth, as it was in Nelson's arrange
ment. It not being my intention to publish any
translations of the original writings, I have omitted
Nelson's English version of the fourth Discourse
altogether. The first volume contains the twenty
Sermons: the second volume contains the four
from Bull to Nelson, p. 326. which is preserved in the British
Museum.
m Bowyer has preceded me in this arrangement ; but he gave
the second place to the tract against G. Clerke, for which there
seems no reason : I have printed it last of all.
PREFACE. xi
Discourses, the Vindication of the Church of Eng
land, and the Corruptions of the Church of Rome.
The four last volumes, i. e. the third, fourth, fifth,
and sixth, contain the Latin works. A different or
der has been observed from that which was adopted
by Grabe. He gave the first place to the three
works upon the Trinity, probably as thinking them
of higher importance than the Harmonia Apostolica,
&c. But since it is always desirable to preserve a
chronological order in editing an author's works, I
have exactly reversed this arrangement. The third
and fourth volumes contain the Harmonia Aposto-
lica, and the two works connected with it, the Ex-
amen Censurce and Apologia ; the fifth and sixth
volumes contain the treatises upon the doctrine of
the Trinity. The Defensio Fidei Niccence occupies
the whole of the fifth volume n ; the Judicium
Ecclesice Catholics, the Primitiva et Apostolica
Traditio, and the tract against G. Clerke, occupy
the sixth.
In printing the Sermons and Discourses, I care-
n This volume consists of 813 pages; and if the thickness of
it should be thought inconvenient, it may easily be divided into
two : the first part would contain the first and second sections of
the work, making a volume of 472 pages ; the second part would
contain the third and fourth sections, making a volume of 341
pages. It is to be regretted, that the works of bishop Bull do not
admit of being divided into volumes of a more uniform size ; but
it has been thought, that the inconvenience of having part of a
treatise in one volume, and part in another, would be much greater
than that of having the volumes of unequal size.
xii PREFACE.
fully collated the sheets, as they passed through the
press, with the original edition published by Nelson ;
by which means some errors have been removed,
which were introduced into the Oxford edition of
1816. The work entitled Corruptions of the Church
of Rome, as stated above, has been reprinted several
times ; but upon comparing the later editions with
the first and authentic one published by Hickes in
1705, several alterations and mistakes will be dis
covered. I have followed the first edition implicitly,
except where the references were manifestly wrong.
The Vindication of the Church of England had only
been printed once before : I could therefore only
copy that edition, which in some places appears to
be inaccurate ; and the original work was evidently
written by the bishop in a hasty and careless man
ner. At the end of the second volume an Index will
be found of the principal matters referred to in the
first two volumes. Nelson published an index to
the English works edited by himself, the substance
of which will be found in the present one ; but the
reader, who compares the two, will find that which
is now printed to be much more full, and to embrace
many more subjects, though the separate articles
may be expressed in fewer words. It also comprises
the two treatises which Nelson did not publish ; and
I have added a list of the texts of Scripture referred
to or explained in the two volumes of the English
works.
PREFACE. X11i
In printing the Latin works, I made use of the
folio edition published by J. E. Grabe in 1703 ; but as
the sheets passed through the press, I collated them
with the original editions, which had been published
separately by Bull. No person, who is without ex
perience in these matters, could imagine the nume
rous corrections, which it thus became requisite
to make. The Harmonia Apostolica published by
Bull in 1670 is perhaps the most scandalously
printed book that ever issued from the press; and
in a notice to the reader at the end he himself de
plores the portenta typographic^, which had been
caused by his not being able to correct the sheets
himself. Grabe evidently took great pains in pre
paring his own edition; and it may be said with
truth, that he had to alter the text or the pointing
in some hundreds of places. The MS. sent by Bull
to the press was probably not without some serious
faults °. Grammatical errors occasionally occur, which
could hardly have been introduced by the printer;
and these in almost every instance have been tacitly
corrected by Grabe. There are cases, however, in
which he altered Bull's Latinity without any suffi
cient reason. The indicative is frequently put for
the subjunctive, and the subjunctive for the indica-
° In the postscript to the reader, at p. 315, of vol. III. and in
the preface to the Examen Censurae, vol. IV. p. iv. Bull speaks
of his handwriting, when he was in a hurry, being- extremely bad,
and almost illegible to himself.
xiv PREFACE.
tive, where either might be allowed to stand. Bull
was in the habit of writing priori and posteriori in
the ablative, which Grabe altered to prior e and pos-
teriore. In the same manner he changed analysim,
hypothesim, hteresim, &c., into analysin, hypothesin,
haresin, &c. ; and where Bull wrote non miJii latet,
Grabe substituted the more usual form non me latet.
Many more instances of this kind might be given,
in which it cannot be said, that Grabe discharged
the office of a faithful editor. It may be indifferent
which form of construction or of spelling we adopt,
or Grabe's method may have been the best : but
if we wish to know what rule was followed by
writers of Latin at any particular period, and if
the authority of bishop Bull is to be quoted, it is
evident, that we must consult his original editions,
and not the reprints which have been altered and
corrected. In these cases, and wherever the original
edition was not grammatically wrong, I have wished
to restore Bull's own words ; and by collating the
two editions together, I venture to hope, that the
work is now published much more accurately than
it was by Grabe P.
P In some instances I am afraid that I have been misled by
Grabe, and too hastily adopted his alterations. Thus in the preface
to the Harmonia Apostolica, p. viii. line i o. and in the Examen
Censuree, p. 73, line 15, Bull coupled antidotum with a feminine
adjective. Grabe altered the adjective to the neuter ; and so it is
printed in the present edition. But I have since observed, that
PREFACE. xv
The corrections which I have made, by consulting
the first edition of the Harmonia Apostolica, are much
too numerous to specify ; but as an instance of the
use of this collation, I would refer the reader to
vol. III. p. 216. line 24, where the words ante ct citra
omnem vocalioncm divinam were omitted by Grabe ;
and as an instance, where one or two letters may
make a difference in the meaning, I would refer to
p. 271, line 9, where instead of faciliora, Grabe's
edition \\asfacilia.
Grabe added Annotations of his own at the end of
some of the chapters. These are not always of much
importance ; and his Latin style was much less easy
and perspicuous than that of Bull. They are printed
in the present edition, and in a smaller type than
the work itself. I have also preserved all the notes,
which Grabe added in the margin or at the bottom
of the page of his own edition, marking them with
his own name, that they may be distinguished from
those of the bishop. Grabe omitted to make this
distinction. At the end of the volume he published
an Index of the principal matters referred to, and
also a list of the texts of Scripture which are quoted.
Instead of reprinting this Index, I have constructed
writers of Bull's day considered the nominative to be antidotus
(feminine) not antidotum. It is so used by Bacon (de Augm.
Scient. in init.) and there are ancient authorities for it. Bull
himself wrote antidotus in his Judicium Eccl. Cathol. p. 158, of
this edition, which was altered by Grabe to antidotum.
xvi PREFACE.
a new one, which I trust will be found more conve
nient, as well as more complete. Grabe noted the
contents of all the Latin works in one Index ; but
I have thought it better to separate the treatises
upon Justification from those upon the Trinity : I
have therefore placed an Index at the end of
the fourth volume, which refers to the Harmonia
Apostolica, Examen Censure?,, and Apologia ; and
another at the end of the sixth volume, which
refers to all the works concerning the doctrine of
the Trinity. Having made my own Index, I com
pared it with that of Grabe, and introduced what
ever I had omitted, except where the matter
appeared not to require such notice. The list of
texts referred to in these volumes will also be found
more complete. Since Grabe's folio edition is that
which is in most general use, and to which reference
is most frequently made by writers who have alluded
to Bull's works, I have preserved in the margin of
this edition the numbers of the pages as they stood
in Grabe's edition.
The Examen Censurce and Apologia were printed
almost as inaccurately in the first edition as the
Harmonia Apostolica ; and Grabe appears to have
become still more bold in altering the text according
to his own fancy. He has also omitted not a few
words which are material to the sense. Some notion
may be formed of the arbitrary changes, which he
introduced, by the following specimen :
PREFACE. xvii
List of words altered by Grabe in the Ed-amen
Censure? and Apologia.
P. 5. 1. 6. huic ausui altered to hoc ausu
1 6. 14. disseruissem disserui
27. 17. pronuntiaverit pronuntiavit
56. 12. authoris sui authori suo
78. 17. apiscatur adipiscatur
85- 19- opoyeves opoytvovs
135- 31- P°tes erunt poterunt
143. 17. descripserim descripsi
150. 7. insistere ingredi
203. 15. disputatione dissertatione
216. 3. lectoris doctoris
234. 24. instituatur institutus sit
267. 2 i . erant fuerint
467. 3. meo mea
The above list contains a very small proportion of
the words and phrases altered by, Grabe. They occur
in almost every page. The words which he has
omitted are also numerous, as may be seen by the
following specimen.
Words omitted by Grabe in the Ex amen Censura
and Apologia.
P. 7. 1. 24. meum
9. 5. fidem
27. 25. divinum
44. 25. omni
66. 7. peccatoris
75. 1 6. evangelicse
122. 4. illius
163. 1 6. si eodem plane modo
290. 15. articuli
330. 9. est omnis
454- 5- serio
BULL, LIFE. b
xviii PREFACE.
In these instances we might be inclined to accuse
Grabe of carelessness ; but whoever consults the
original edition, and observes how much we are
indebted to him for purifying the text, will make
great allowances for these omissions. In the same
manner we must excuse his not having always
attended to the corrections which were pointed
out by Bull himself in the table of errata. Thus
at p. 53, line 19, Grabe printed Animadvers. IV.
though the table of errata states that IV. should
be altered to III. So also at p. 174, line 1, we
are directed to alter quintum to septum, but Grabe
suffered quintum to remain. At p. 178, line 7, the
word liberamur is essential to the passage, and though
it was omitted in the original edition, the omission
is noted among the errata. Grabe, however, neg
lected to supply it. At p. 330, line 29, the word
contumelia wras omitted, and the mistake is cor
rected among the errata ; Grabe, however, intro
duced injuria instead of contumelia. A similar in
stance of carelessness occurs at p. 426, line 22, where
Grabe has followed the original edition in omitting
the word vi.verunt, though it is supplied in the table
of errata. But the most extraordinary instance of
inadvertence occurs at p. 363, line 14, where are the
words " Diss. Post. XVIII. 9." Bull had only printed
" Diss. Post. cap. XVIII." and in the table of errata
we find " Post. cap. XVIII. ad : parag. 9." the
meaning of which is very plain ; but Grabe took ad
PREFACE. xix
for the preposition, and actually printed " Diss. Post.
" cap. XVIII. ad paragraph. 9." It may be men
tioned also, that at p. 175 Bull quotes a passage from
his Harmonia Apostolica, and in his own edition he
misplaced the words Jacobo and Paulo in lines 17
and 19, by which means the sense of the passage is
destroyed. Grabe did not observe the transposition,
and suffered it to remain.
The Defensio Fidei Nic&nce was printed at the
Sheldonian press in Oxford, and, as might be ex
pected, is greatly superior in correctness to the two
former volumes, which had been published in Lon
don. It may be pronounced, upon the whole, to be
not an inelegant specimen of typography, though
the errata are much more numerous than would be
found in any book which issued from the university
press in these days. The bishop laments this fact
in his preface, and partly explains the cause by in
forming us that he was not personally present to
superintend the printing, and that he only corrected
the last sheet. It may be observed, however, that
the peculiarities of the bishop's expressions, and of
his Latin style, are not so perceptible in the works
which he published at Oxford, as in those which
were printed so inaccurately in London. In the
latter place the printers might mistake his hand
writing, and introduce numerous errata; but to
alter his Latinity, and substitute common for un
common phrases, greatly exceeded their powers. It
b 2
xx PREFACE.
is evident that these alterations were made by the
Oxford printers. In the Harmonia Apostolica and
Examen Censure his orthography and phraseology
were uniform ; in the Defensio we occasionally meet
with the same peculiarities, but in most cases they
have been corrected fl. Grabe took the liberty of
changing Bull's expressions in a great variety of
instances. The following are some of the most
remarkable alterations :
P. 35. 1. 13. attenti quietique altered to attente quieteque
101. \6. illud altered to aliud
no. i o. op.oov<Ti(t>v altered to O^OOVO-LOV
J49- 28. jam altered to jam jam
167. 30. quemadmodum altered to uti
214. 22. antiquissimus altered to antiquus
259. 10. yevvrfTos KCU aytWrjro? altered to yei^ros KCU
309. 25. ut altered to quam
320. 4. discidium altered to dissidium. So also at
p. 681. 1. 22.
321. 4. apud ipsum vel pro subsistentia vel pro re
singular! altered to apud ipsum pro subsist
entia, i. e. pro re singular!
4 The bishop, as observed above, wrote hceresim, hypostasim,
&c , and we find the words printed thus in the former part of the
volume ; but toward the end they are changed to heeresin, hypo-
stasin, &c. He was in the habit of using a dative case after
inferior, and so we find it in a few cases in this volume ; but
much more frequently the ablative has been substituted. The
MS. of the answer to G. Clerke, which is preserved in the Bod
leian, and which was written not long before the bishop's death,
proves that he had not himself altered his Latin style, but that
these liberties were taken with his composition at the university
press.
PREFACE. xxi
P. 407. 1. 25. tertium, ultimum, cavillum, expediendum,
altered to tertius, ultiinus, eavillus, expe-
diendus
464. 26. Se altered to sod. — Sic is inserted after prce-
varicationem
519. 6. renitentibus altered to retinentibus
541. 15. in responsionibus ad Pauli qusestiones Epi-
stolie subjectis altered to in responsione ad
Pauli qusestiones Epistoke subjectas
640. 17. qui altered to quse
696. 4. nisi si
6. excipit accipit
706. 30. ad Tryphonera altered to cum Tryphone
728. 4. Zenonis altered to Zenoni
785. 9. divisa divisas
I have taken no notice of the many instances in
which the tenses have been altered, and the list
might have been greatly increased by other exam
ples. It may be mentioned also, that at p. 656,
line 24, Bull by mistake wrote Valentinianos for
Prctcuean, which was not corrected by Grabe ; but
a list of the words which Grabe omitted will afford
the strongest proof of his inaccuracy as an editor.
List of words omitted by Grabe in the Defemio
Fidci Niccencc.
P. 35. 1. 10. illud, Ubi es ?
71. 2 j . et
i 16. 5. et
214. penult. Cypriani
227. 24. ipso
244. 2. persona
245. 7. omniumque
256. 6. obscuri
295. 26. Dei
327. 19. sic
xxii PREFACE.
- 17- non
424. note111, quicquam
566. 1. 5. est after aliquo
604. 1 8. Filius
6 12. penult, absurd!
620. 13. suo
710. 25. nonnullis
722. 7. mine
724. 9. mox
765. 5. Deo
798. 25. ad
804. 24. germana
8c6. 6. so contulisse ; atque ab ipsis, se quoque ca-
tholicos
The Judicium Ecclesice Catholicce was also print
ed at the Sheldonian press in Oxford ; and is a bet
ter specimen of typography than the Defensio ; the
errors are fewer, and Grabe has been rather more
sparing in his alterations. lie has however omitted
some words of importance, and altered others with
out any reason ; as the following list will shew.
Words altered by Grabe in the Judicium Ecclesice
Catholica.
P. 15. 1. 26. horn in em altered to homines
39. 4. transfigere ............ transfixisse
1 8. qui ..................... quod
5 2 . 25. sileant .................. sileam
56. 2. quod .................. quoniam
59. 6. ut ..................... quod
87. 4. catechetis ............ cateehetse
114. 4. Christus ............... Christi
6. quia ..................... quod
158. 32. antidotus ............... antidotum
199. 2. poterat ipsos ......... potuisset istos
1 have here taken little or no notice of the altera-
PREFACE. xxiii
tion of moods and tenses, of which many instances
might be given. The following words were omitted
by Grabe, but have been restored in the present
edition :
P. 33. 1. 8. ipsi vero credentcs, legique
— ii. putuin
34. 14. dum
43. 2. fuisse
— 4. demum
219. 9. puto
It has been mentioned above, that the tract enti
tled Primitiva et Apostolica Traditio, Sfc., was
printed for the first time by Grabe in his folio edi
tion ; so that we cannot ascertain what alterations
or omissions were made in this work ; and not hav
ing any other edition to compare it with, I have
carefully followed that which was printed by Grabe.
It has been mentioned also, that the tract against
Gilbert Clerke, which forms the last in this edition,
was first printed by Nelson in 1713, and was after
wards added by Bowyer in his reprint of Grabe's
edition in 1721. The original MS. (alluded to by
Nelson, Life, p. 426.) is in the collection of Grabe's
papers now preserved in the Bodleian library. At
the end there is a small part of it in the bishop's
own handwriting a. I have collated the MS. as ac
curately as I could, both before the sheets were
printed, and as they passed through the press ; by
il This begins at the 28th section, page 404 of this edition, and
continues to the end.
xxiv PREFACE.
which means I have been able to restore some read
ings which were altered. I have also consulted the
work entitled Antenicenismus, written by Clerke,
to which this tract was intended as an answer; and
I have thus been able to correct some of the quo
tations which Bull transcribed hastily, and which
Nelson does not appear to have verified with the
original work. The following is a list of the inac
curacies which appear in Nelson's edition :
P. 368. 1.28. cum Nelson printed turn
369. 4. confiteatur confiteantur
8. hsec hac
370. 4. quidem quidam
29. quern quam
371. T 2. magistro raagis
374. 8 . quamque quamquam
376. 9. verba verbo
— 27. respectu non personse sed Nelson printed
respectu personse non
389. 18. paternse Nelson printed paterna.
393- 5. gentes gentiles
396. 26. quam quern
— 28. hujus nodi hujusmodi
398. 14. invisibilitatem indivisibilitatem.
399. 30. viris veris
404. 26. geminis genuinis
ult. itidein ibidem
406. 12. omnino is omitted
408. 6. Hine Nelson printed Hinc.
In this list I have not taken notice of errors which
are merely typographical, and of which there are not
a few. I have divided the tract into sections for the
convenience of reference. In the original MS. there
PREFACE. xxv
are no such sections marked ; but the paragraphs are
divided exactly as they are printed in this edition,
and nothing has been added but the numbers.
When Bowyer reprinted Grabe's edition in 1721,
he added a few notes, principally to state the period
in which each of the Fathers lived or their works
were published. Nothing is said by him concerning
the author of these notes ; indeed they are almost
exclusively taken from Cave. I have printed them
all in this edition, marking them with the name of
Bowyer.
The principal object which I have had in view,
and it is that which has caused by far the greatest
portion of labour, was to verify the quotations and
references made by Bull. The bishop appears in
almost every instance to have consulted the best
editions of the Fathers which were extant in his
days. But I need not observe, that since that time
there have been better editions of nearly all the
Fathers. With the exception of Arnobius, the two
Cyrils, Methodius, Photius, Theodoret, and per
haps one or two more, there are none which the
Benedictine editors or others have not enabled us to
read in a much more correct and perfect form. In
every instance it has been my intention to consult
the original passage as quoted by Bull, and to add
the reference to the best edition. It is plain that
Bull very often made mistakes in transcribing pas
sages ; and what person, who undertook such an
xxvi PREFACE.
Herculean task, would not do the same? We know
also, that he was in the habit of going to Oxford
annually to consult the libraries there5. Upon these
occasions he probably made large extracts from
those works, which his own limited income did not
allow him to possess; so that when he wrote out
his works for the press, instead of being able to
verify his quotations with the printed copy, they
were in fact a transcript from a transcript. His
own handwriting also, as has been already observed,
was extremely bad ; so that upon the whole we
need not be surprised to find several mistakes in his
quotations.
The plan which I have followed in correcting the
quotations is this : Whenever the mistake is obvi
ously one of inattention, or where a reading, which
is indisputably the true one, has been printed in a
later edition, I have made the correction without
noticing it. These instances indeed are so nume
rous, that to mention them all would be endless as
well as unnecessary. But when Bull was likely to
have known of two or more readings, and adopted
one of them, or where the reading of later editors is
only a matter of conjecture or of judgment, I have
not altered Bull's quotation of the passage, but have
stated the different reading in a note. It has been
my endeavour to verify all his quotations, not only
from the works of the Fathers, but from every other
s Life, p. 36.
John Bull,
Chaplain t
Henry VI!
Edward V]
Thomas B
died S. P.
William ij
of Shapwi
Somerset,
died 1676
I
Henry Bull:
died 1695.
Eleanor =
I
Bridge
George
Anne = Joseph C born M
born March
born 1662.
Stephens, bori 2o, i6£
24, 1659.
died 1703.
Archdeacon i^ m.
died young.
of Brecon, die< Edwar
died 1735.
Adderlc
Elizabeth =Williar
Walter
of Bris
Jane Gastrell = Joseph Cha
Rector of I
bourn, co. <
died 1795.
John=Joyce Richard James, D. D.
Whittaker. died 1819. Fellow of
S. P. Magd. College.
Joseph
James
Joanna
Baptista.
Mary, daugfc
of William
Hayward.
died 1814. '
Sarah Anne
jrker
k
Jol
PREFACE. xxvii
writer ancient and modern ; and I should perhaps
not be saying too much when I state, that the text,
as printed by Grabe, has been corrected for the pre
sent edition in some hundred instances; which T
mention, in the hope that persons who are acquaint
ed with this sort of labour will make excuse for
wrong references, and other inaccuracies, which may
appear in this edition.
At the end of the last volume will be found a list
of the Fathers and other writers whose works are
quoted by Bull. I have added the year in which
each of them is supposed to have lived, together
with the latest and best editions of their works. It
has been my intention to make my own references
in every instance to the best editions.
Subsequent to the printing of Nelson's Life of
Bull for this edition, I have met with a pedigree of
the family of Bull in the Ashmolean Museum, and
have received another, containing some additions,
from the Heralds' College. They begin in the reign
of Henry VIII. and come down to the father of the
bishop. The registers of Siddington and A veiling
have supplied the names of the bishop's children,
and by information derived from his present de
scendants, I have been able to bring the pedigree
down to our own times.
It is stated by Nelson, (Life, p. 407.) that the
bishop had eleven children ; the parish registers give
xxviii PREFACE.
the names of twelve, as is seen in the pedigree ; and
since many of them died young, the omission may
easily be explained. Nelson also states that only
two of the bishop's children survived him ; these
were Robert and Bridget. The pedigree confirms
the death of all the others, excepting Richard, of
whom I am not able to give any account. In a note
at p. 407, I have quoted Jones the historian of
Brecknockshire, as thinking that one of the bishop's
younger sons settled at Kington, from whom the
Bulls of Durfield were descended. This may pro
bably have been Richard. It appears from the re
gister at Siddington, that Richard Bull was buried
there Nov. 27, 1740; but whether this was the same
Richard, son of the bishop, must remain uncertain.
It also appears that Arine Bull was buried at Sid
dington, July 16, 1742 : this was not the eldest
daughter of the bishop ; for she was married to arch
deacon Stephens, and died in 1703. We may infer
therefore, that some of the bishop's family continued
to reside at Siddington after he quitted it.
To many readers these minute points of genea
logical discussion may have little interest ; but some
of those, who have studied and admired the writings
of bishop Bull, will perhaps agree in thinking that
every thing connected with the personal history of
such a man is worth preserving. His friend and
biographer Nelson has left little to be collected in
this way by any succeeding editor; but it has not
PREFACE. xxix
perhaps been generally known, that so many persons
are still living who are descended from this great
and good man ; of whom it may be truly said, that
the church of Christ is as deeply indebted to bishop
Bull for the lasting monuments of his learning and
his zeal, as to any of her sons who have defended
her from the open or secret enemy, and traced her
unbroken descent from those pure and apostolical
times when the faith was once delivered to the
saints.
E. B.
[1827.]
THE LIFE
OF GEORGE BULL, D. D,
LORD BISHOP OF ST. DAVID'S,
THE HISTORY OF THOSE CONTROVERSIES IN
WHICH HE WAS ENGAGED;
AN ABSTRACT OF THOSE FUNDAMENTAL DOCTRINES WHICH HE
MAINTAINED AND DEFENDED IN THE LATIN TONGUE.
BY ROBERT NELSON, ESQ.
CONTENTS.
CONTENTS.
INTRODUCTION.
rPHE occasion of writing this Life, p. i. An apology for
-*- attempting it, p. 2. His reputation secured by his own
works, ibid. Why it may be acceptable to learned and
good men, p. 3. Reasons for the length of it, p. 4.
I. When and where Mr. Bull was born, p. 5. His family
and parentage, ibid. Early dedicated to the service of
the church, p. 6.
II. Educated at Tiverton school in Devonshire, p. 7. An
account and character of his master, p. 8. His great and
early progress in classic learning, p. 9.
III. Removed to Exeter college in Oxford, p. 9. Taken no
tice of by two great men, p. 10. Acquainted with Mr.
Clifford, afterwards lord high treasurer, p. 12.
IV. He retires from Oxford, upon refusing the Engage
ment, p. 13. He goes with his tutor, Mr. Ackland, to
North Cadbury, p. 14. Influenced to great seriousness by
a sister, p. 15.
V. He puts himself under the conduct of an eminent di
vine, p. 15. The advantage of seminaries for the candi
dates of holy orders, p. 16. The fruit to be reaped from
them, p. 17. He is put under the direction of Mr. Tho
mas, p. 18. He contracts a friendship with Mr. Thomas's
son, which was very advantageous to him, p. 20.
BULL, LIFE. C
xxxiv CONTENTS.
VI. He enters into holy orders, p. 21. He was but one and
twenty when ordained priest, p. 23. This forwardness in
such times an argument of his zeal, p. 24.
VII. He settles at St. George's near Bristol, p. 25. A little
accident which contributed to his reputation, p. 26. Dis
turbed in his sermon by a quaker, p. 27.
VIII. The method he took in governing his parish, p. 29.
The parish infested with Antinomian books, p. 31. The
excellency of Mr. Bull's method, p. 3 2.
IX. The prayers he used in public, p. 33. An instance of
the Common Prayer being admired by the dissenters
when used by Mr. Bull, p. 34. An eminent danger he
was preserved from, p. 35. He goes to Oxford once a
year, for the use of libraries, p. 36.
X. Mr, Bull marries Mrs. Bridget Gregory, p. 37. her cha
racter, p. 39.
XI. He was presented to Suddington St. Mary's, p. 41.
He was made privy to the design of a general insurrec
tion in fifty-nine, p. 42. His preaching at Cirencester,
and the occasion of it, p. 43.
XII. He was presented to the vicarage of Suddington St.
Peter, p. 44. He marries a couple publicly by the form
of Common Prayer, p. 46. Reading the prayers devoutly
no mean attainment, and of great advantage to the
people, p. 47.
XIII. His manner of preaching, and the frequency of it,
p. 48. He only writ the scheme of his sermons, p. 50.
His care in catechising the youth, p. 5 1 . Baptism and
the eucharist, how administered by him, p. 52. His ob
servation of the holydays of the church, p. 54.
XIV. The religious government of his family, p. 55. His
private devotions, p. 58. The pious frame and temper of
his mind, p. 60. His singing of Psalms in his private de
votions, p, 6 1 . The singing of Psalms of the old version
defended by bishop Beveridge, p. 62., The character of
his sermons, p. 63.
XV. Mr. Bull's manner of governing this parish, p. 64.
He confirms two ladies that were wavering in their reli-
C O N T E N T S. xxxv
gion, p. 66. A ridiculous story of a quaker's challenge,
p. 68. His charity to the poor and indigent, p. 70. His
sentiments upon charity, p. 73.
XVI. His only diversion agreeable conversation, p. 75.
He prosecutes his studies with great application, p. 76.
Several tracts composed by him lost, p. 77.
XVII. He published his first book, called Harmonia Apo-
stolica, &c., p. 79. An account of this book, p. 80. The
causes and motives of his writing it, p. 8 1 . A particular
obligation laid upon him to consider this controversy,
p. 82. His preparation for writing it, ibid. The method
he took in collecting materials, p. 83. How he came to
write in Latin, ibid.
XVIII. The general scope and design of this treatise, p. 84.
His great caution in treating this point of justification,
p. 85. The dissatisfaction of some protestant divines
hereupon, p. 86. The occasion and grounds of this dis
satisfaction, ibid. The judgment of the church of Eng
land variously represented, p. 87. The effect which this
contention produced, ibid. The advantage by it to Mr.
Bull's cause, p, 88.
XIX. Animadversions upon his book, p. 89. The opposi
tion it met with from three considerable men in the
church, ibid. And from others, either half-conformists or
non-conformists, p. 91 .
XX. A review of his method for determining the sense of
St. James, p. 91. The proposition of St. James farther
explained, p. 92. This explication vindicated by five
several arguments, p. 93.
XXI. Argument the first, from the testimony of holy
Scripture, p. 93.
XXII. Argument the second, from the juridical notion of
Justification, p. 96. Argument the third, from the no
tion and nature of faith, p. 98.
XXIII. Argument the fourth, from God's proceeding in
the day of judgment, p. 99. Argument the fifth, from
the concession of adversaries, p. 10:.
XXIV. The first concession, concerning a living or opera-
c 2
xxxvi CONTENTS.
tive faith, p. 103. Second concession, concerning the
necessity of good works to salvation, p. 104. An objec
tion answered, p. 106.
XXV. The proposition of St. James demonstrated to
accord with the sense of St. Paul, p. 106. He shews both
the false and true way of solving the difficulty, p. 107.
How the term justification, as used by St. Paul, is to
be interpreted, p. 108. How the term faith, in this con
troversy, is to be interpreted, ibid. First argument, that
St. Paul meaneth such a faith as implies obedience,
ibid. Second argument, that St. Paul means such a
faith as containeth obedience, p. no. Third argument,
that St. Paul meaneth such a faith as containeth obedi
ence, p. 112. The ground of this manner of speaking,
p. 113.
XXVI. The first reason why St. Paul useth faith to de
scribe the condition required from us, p. 113. The se
cond reason why faith is used to express evangelical
obedience, p. 1 15.
XXVII. How the term works is to be interpreted in this
controversy, p. 1 16. Works wrought by the Spirit to be
distinguished from all other works, p. 117. Faith and
works constitute the Gospel covenant, ibid. All sort of
works not excluded from justification, p. 118. What sort
of works rejected from justification, p. 119.
XXVIII. Animadversions on the Harmonia sent to the
author, p. 120. The Animadversions written by Mr.
Charles Gataker, p. 121. The sum of the Animadver
sions, ibid. Animadv. I. II. ibid. III. — IX. p. 122. X. —
XV. p. 123. XVI.— XX. p. 124. XXI. XXII. XXIII.
p. 125. The character of the Animadverter, ibid.
XXIX. Mr. Bull's motive for taking so much notice of
Mr. Gataker's manuscript Animadversions, p. 126. An
abstract of his Examen Censurse, in answer to them,
p. 127. Answer to Animad. I. — VII. p. 128. VIII. IX.
p. T 29. X. XI. p. 130. XII. XIII. p. 1 3 1 . XIV. XV. XVI.
p. 132. XVII. XVIII. XIX. p. 133. XX. XXL XXII.
p. 134. XXIII. p. i3y
CONTENTS.
XXXVll
XXX. Some farther observations of Mr. Gataker's manage
ment of this controversy, p. 135. A reflection on Mr.
Bull's management of it against him, p. 137. An account
of the eldest Gataker, and how Mr. Bull came to be
engaged with him, p. 139.
XXXI. The occasion and motives of Mr. Truman's writino-
O
against the Harmonia, p. 140. His censure, how differ
ent from that of Mr. Gatakor, and how favourable to
Mr. Bull, p. 141. How he agreed and disagreed with
Mr. Bull, p. 142. How some concurred with him in the
very offence taken, for whom Mr. Bull had otherwise an
esteem, p. 143. How he came to write against Mr. Bull
in English rather than in Latin, p. 145.
XXXII. An account of the several treatises published by
him, against the doctrine and method of Mr. Bull, p. 147 4
An account of the design and method of his last treatise,
p. 151. Principal mistakes charged upon Mr. Bull, (p. 4.
and Prof. p. 2.) 152.
XXXIII. The principles of Mr. Truman opposite to these,
p. 153. His interpretation of the threats and promises
of the Old Testament, with a fourfold respect, p. 155.
His opinion of the Horeb covenant, and that made in
the land of Moab, p. 156. His sentiments concerning
the nature of the Mosaic law, p. 157. His commenda
tion of Mr. Bull, and agreement with him in some
material points, p. 159.
XXXIV. His dissatisfaction, both with Dr. Hammond and
Mr. Bull, about their notions of grace, p. 160. Some
other objections raised against Mr. Bull, p. 1 64. Some
of Mr. Truman's concessions, p. 165. The result of the
whole matter, p. 166.
XXXV. Mr. Bull answereth him in English, p. 1 67. But
not contented with that, answereth him in Latin, p. 169.
The substance of his answer, ibid.
XXXVI. An hypothesis of Mr. Truman's examined, p. 172.
The character of the rectifier, p. 175.
XXXVII. Bishop Nicholson, Mr. Bull's patron, dies ; his
character, p. 176. Bishop Nicholson's epitaph, writ by
xxxviii CON TEN7 TS.
Mr. Bull, p. 177. How a stop was put to Mr. Bull's de
signs of vindicating some catholic doctrines, p. 1 79. How
public lectures were read against him at Oxford, p. 181.
XXXVIII. How Dr. Tully became Dr. Barlow's second
against Mr. Bull, p. 182. The fitness of Dr. Tully for
such an undertaking, and the high expectations from
him, p. 183. Some endeavours of modest men in the
church, to put a stop to these contentions, p. 184.
XXXIX. What Mr. Bull did, when he heard Dr. Tully
was writing against him, p. 1 86. What passed at a visit
of Mr. Bull to Dr. Tully, p. 187. Dr. Tully publishes his
answer to Mr. Bull, ibid. The manner of his stating the
question, and establishing his own opinion, p. 1 89. His
account of the reasons why all are not of his opinion,
p. 191.
XL. The design of his discourse, De Sententia Paulina,
p. 192. Dr. Tully dies ; his character, p. 194.
XLI. Mr. Bull publishes his Examen Censurse and his
Apologia together, p. 196. An observation on his Exa
men, which vindicates his sincerity, p. 197. An observa
tion upon his Apology, which confirms the same, p. 199.
XLII. The preferring modern authorities before catholic
tradition, shewn to be unreasonable, p. 201. The best
method of ending controversies in the church, p. 203.
XLIII. Mr. Bull answers Dr. Tully's objection of his little
skill in the Fathers when he writ his Harmonia, p. 203.
The Greek and Latin Fathers favour Mr. Bull's inter
pretation, p. 204. His answer about the judgment of
the church of England, and the foreign reformed, p. 205.
XLV. Dr. Tully charged with several errors, p. 206. The
ancient fathers of Mr. Bull's opinion upon the seventh of
the Romans, p. 207.
XLVI. Mr. Baxter also answers Dr. Tully, p. 208. How
Mr. Tombes animadverted upon Mr. Bull, p. 209. An
account of this new animadverter, and his character,
p. 213.
XLVII. The charge of Dr. Lewis du Moulin brought
against Mr. Bull and his principles, p. 216. The con-
CONTENTS. xxxix
elusion of this controversy, that related to Mr. Bull's
Harmonia Apostolica, p. 218.
X L VIII. The same controversy at this time carried on also
among dissenters, p. 219. The case of Dr. Williams
among the dissenters about the Antinomian controversy,
p. 221. The occasion that engaged him in this contro
versy, p. 222. His method in this controversy, p. 223.
Mr. Lob starts a new controversy, p. 225. Mr. Williams
writes to bishop Stillingfleet, p. 226. The bishop answers
Mr. Williams, p. 227. An appeal made to the late bishop
of Worcester by Mr. Lob, p. 228. The appeal considered
by the bishop, p. 229. The questions proposed to bishop
Stillingfleet were sent to Dr. Jonathan Edwards likewise,
p. 230. A further account of the state of this affair, p. 23 1 .
How this controversy was composed, p. 234. The success
that followed hereupon,, ibid.
XLTX. Mr. Bull made prebendary of Gloucester by the
earl of Nottingham, p. 236. The earl of Nottingham's
method of bestowing his preferments, p. 237. The pre
sent archbishop of York then his chaplain, p. 238.
L. Mr. Bull finishes his Defence of the Nicene Faith, p. 239.
Arian and Socinian writers in Holland spread their here
sies here, p. 240. A fault observed in some learned or
thodox writers, and the reasonableness of this treatise,
ibid. How the treatise, when fitted for the press, was in
danger of being utterly stifled, p 241. By what means
it came to be encouraged by bishop Fell, p. 242. and
printed at'the theatre in Oxford, ibid .
LI. What Petavius had written on this subject both sus
pected by catholics, and challenged by Arians, p. 243.
How far vindicated herein against Sandius by Mr. Bull,
p. 244. His conjecture why Petavius lessened the au
thority of the Antenicene Fathers, ibid.
LI I. How Petavius was succeeded in this controversy by
Curcellseus, p. 246. The different designs of Petavius
and Curcellseus, p. 250
LIII. A mistake of Bosstiet bishop of Meaux concerning
Mr. Bull, p. 250. No argument for the infallibility of
xl C O N T E N T S.
general councils from the manner of his vindicating that
of Nice, p-25i. A plain account of the truth of this
matter, and the grounds for undertaking this vindica
tion, p. 252. Full satisfaction given herein to the bishop
of Meaux, p. 254.
LIV. The same attempt as to some protestant writers,
p. 256. An advantage taken by Sociuians and Arians,
from the writings of some learned remonstrants, p. 257.
LV. The chief pillars of the catholic faith concerning
Christ, p. 258. And concerning the Holy Ghost, p. 259.
An account of Mr. Bull's thesis concerning the preexist-
ence of Christ, ibid.
LVI. An account of his thesis concerning the consubstan-
tiality of the Word with God the Father, p. 262. And
concerning his coeternity with him, p. 264.
LVII. Notwithstanding his subordination with the Father,
p. 268. The doctrine of the council of Nice vindicated
by Mr. Bull against the modern Autotheans, p. 270.
His candid treatment of Calvin on this account, p. 272.
LVIII. He defends an equality of nature not to be incon
sistent with such a subordination, p. 273. The advantage
of this doctrine how by him explained, p. 274.
LIX. The use of this treatise made by Dr. Clarke, con
sidered, p. 275. "Whose scheme of the Trinity is com
pared with his, ibid. The doctor's artful way of citing
authors and books, p. 278. More particularly the De-
fensio Fidei Niccence, p. 279.
LX. The use of this treatise made by Dr. Edwards, the
animadverter on Dr. Clarke, p. 284.
LXI. Of Dr. Cudworth and Dr. Sherlock; and their schemes
compared with this author, p. 289. How adversaries as
well as friends applauded this performance, p. 291.
LXII. The bishop of Meaux sends Monsieur Jurieu to
Dr. Bull, for the sense of the Fathers about the Trinity,
p. 293. An instance how much Dr. Bull's book was
esteemed by the Romanists and Protestants, p. 295.
LXIII. Mr. Bull twenty- seven years rector of Suddington,
p. 296. Preferred to Avening in Gloucestershire, p. 298.
CONTENTS. xl,
His natural modesty where his interest was concerned,
p. 299. The state and condition of the parish when he
entered upon it, ibid. He keeps a curate, and his
manner of using him, p. 301.
LXI V. Mr. Bull preferred by archbishop Bancroft to the
archdeaconry of Llandaff; being his Grace's option,
p. 302. His Grace's character, p. 303. The nature of an
option, p. 304. The degree of Doctor conferred on Mr.
Bull by the university of Oxford, p. 306.
LXV. He establishes a sermon on Thursday in every week,
with catechising, p. 307. Very scrupulous in signing
testimonials, p. 308. Ho suppresses the observation of a
wake in his parish, p. 309. He preaches against popery
in the reign of king James, p. 310. He was made a
justice of peace after the revolution, p. 3 12.
LXVI. His Judicium Ecclesice Catholics, written against
Episcopius, p. 3 1 4. His character of Episcopius, and his
motives to write against him, p. 315. The anathema of
the council of Nice defended against him and others,
p. 317. The main occasion and design of publishing this
book, p. 3 1 8.
LXVII. A short abstract of its contents and method,
p. 320. The Hierosolymitan Creed, p. 324. A farther
account of the method and argument of this book,
p. 325.
LXVIII. Dr.BmTs Judgment of the Catholic Church, &c.,
sent to the bishop of Meaux ; who, with the rest of the
bishops of France, complimented the author, p. 327.
The bishop of Meaux's letter to Mr. Nelson, concerning
Dr. Bull, p. 329.
LXIX. Dr. Bull publishes his Primitive and Apostolical
Tradition, &c., against Dr. Zuicker. An account of that
Prussian, p. 333. Bred a Lutheran, and turns Unitarian,
p.334. An account of some of this Doctor's extravagant
positions, p. 336.
LXX. How Dr. Bull was moved to write against Zuicker,
and such as copied after him, p. 338. The substance
BULL, LIFE. d
xlii CONTENTS.
of Dr. Bull's Primitive and Apostolical Tradition, &c.,
against Zuicker and others, p. 341.
LXXI. Dr. Bull's Latin Works collected into one volume
by Dr. Grabe, p. 342. Dr. Grabe's character, p. 343.
Supported in his sickness by the present lord high
treasurer, earl of Oxford and Mortimer, p. 346.
LXXII. Dr. Bull promoted to the bishopric of St. David's,
p. 347. St. David's formerly a metropolitan see, p. 350.
He buries his son, Mr. George Bull, from whom he ex
pected assistance, p. 351. Mr. Bull's character, ibid.
A testimony of his humility, in a letter to Mr. Nelson,
p. 353. The bishop takes his seat in the house of lords
at the time of the union, p. 354.
LXXIII. The bishop, in July after his consecration, goes
into his diocese, p. 356. The bishop appoints a triennial
visitation by commissioners, p. 357. The sum of the
charge prepared by the bishop, p. 358.
LXXIV. The bishop confirms in several places, p. 360.
The care he took in ordaining deacons and priests,
p. 361. The manner of bishop Bull's treating the candi
dates of holy orders, p. 362. His exhortations to them
after ordination, p. 364.
LXXV. He endeavours to reform the administering bap
tism in private, p. 366. He frequently expressed his dis
like of lay impropriations, p. 367. The manner of go
verning his family while he was bishop, p. 371.
LXXVI. His several methods of charity, p. 372. He de
signed to have sent a circular letter to all his clergy ; a
rough draught whereof was drawn up, p. 376. The de
sign of this letter, p. 377. The first thing recommended,
the establishing family devotion, ibid. The second thing
recommended is erecting charity schools, p. 380. The
third thing recommended is a library of books of prac
tical divinity for youth, p. 382. The fourth thing recom
mended, the Welsh Common Prayer Book, p. 383. The
fifth thing recommended, to procure the laws to be put
in execution against vice or immorality, p. 384.
CONTENTS. xliii
LXXVIII. The bishop resided constantly in his diocese,
p. 388. The bishop extremely surprised by a simoniacal
priest, p. 390.
LXXIX. He impaired his strength by intense and unsea
sonable study, p. 390. An account of his last sickness,
p. 391. His apprehension of the approach of death,
p. 392. His immediate preparation for death, p. 393.
The confession of his faith, and general view of his life,
p. 394. His repentance, and ground of hope for the re
mission of sins, ibid. His charity, and forgiveness of
enemies, p. 398. His profession concerning the church
of England, ibid.
LXXX. The manner of his taking his solemn leave, p. 399.
His care and affection for those who waited upon him,
p. 400. What, was observed of him in the agony of
death, p. 401. His repeated farewell, and dying exhorta
tions to his family, p. 402. His death, p. 403. He was
buried at Brecknock, p. 404. Bishop Bull's character,
p. 408.
LXXXI. An account of bishop Bull's sermons and dis
courses, p. 411. The first use of the sermons, to inform
us in some primitive truths, p. 412. The middle state of
happiness and misery, ibid. The doctrine of the eucha-
ristical sacrifice, p. 414. The doctrine of angels, and the
uses of it, p. 416. The title of mother of God asserted
and vindicated, p. 417. The second use of the Sermons
is a model for young preachers, p. 418. Dr. Lupton's
Letter to Mr. Nelson, concerning bishop Bull's Sermons,
p. 420.
LXXXII. An account of bishop Bull's Discourses; and
the first concerning the blessed Trinity, p. 422. Dr. Bull's
Letter to archdeacon Parsons, p. 423. Lord Arundel's
Letter to Mr. Parsons, p. 425. The fourth discourse
concerning the Animadversions upon Mr. Gilbert Clerke,
p. 426. Dr. Bull's Letter to Dr. Grabe, p. 427. Mr.
Clerke's Answer to Dr. Bull, in behalf of the Unitarians,
p. 428.
xliv CONTENTS.
LXXXIII. The manner of Mr. Clerke's writing for the
Unitarians against the Doctor, p. 430. Some account of
the life and character of Mr. Gilbert Clerke, p. 435.
LXXXIV. The fifth Discourse, concerning the State of
Man before the Fall, &c., p. 437. Communicated to Dr.
Hickes. His character, p. 439. Dr. Hickes's Letter to
Mr. Nelson, upon bishop Bull's fifth Discourse, p. 440.
LXXXV. The sum and substance of the fifth Discourse,
p. 459. The conclusion of the whole, p. 464.
THE LIFE
THE LIFE
OF
DR. GEORGE BULL,
BISHOP OF ST. DAVID'S.
THE INTRODUCTION.
WHEN the reverend Mr. Robert Bull proposed The occa-
to me the publishing the following sermons Jrilhfg this
and other discourses, which his father, the late lord Llfe>
bishop of St. David's, had ordered to be printed
after his death ; I thought myself upon several
accounts obliged to comply with his request, and
therefore was too easily overcome by his importu
nity : for I had maintained a long and intimate
friendship with his lordship, which gave me an
opportunity of being acquainted with his solid and
substantial worth; I had frequently sa't at his feet
as he was a preacher, and as often felt the force of
those distinguishing talents which enabled him to
shine in the pulpit ; but above all, I had preserved a
grateful remembrance of those advantages which I
had received from him in my education, part where
of was committed to his care and direction*.
a [Nelson was educated first at St. Paul's school, but was
taken from thence by his mother to live with her at Dryfield,
near Cirencester. Bull was at that time rector of Suddington, a
neighbouring village, and went to Mrs. Nelson's house to instruct
her son.]
B
2 THE LIFE OF
An apology j am Verv sensible that this engagement will carry
for attempt- J °. J
ing it. me into a difficult province ; and it may be thought
too presumptuous for a person no better qualified
than myself, to venture to speak of so great a
prelate, so famous abroad for his elaborate and
judicious writings, and so valued at home for his
unfeigned piety and profound learning. To those
that shall urge this I have nothing to reply, but that
friendship and gratitude are not always governed by
the most cautious measures; that the desire to do
justice to those we love, frequently concealeth from
us the danger of such an undertaking, and throws a
veil over those snares which hazard the success of
the performance. And therefore I hope the sense
of obligation, and the zeal which I have for the
memory of so pious and learned a friend, which
moved me to this assurance in writing, will serve
something for my excuse, and help to shelter me
from that censure which other ways I might justly
deserve.
His reputa- It must be owned that the lives of great and ex-
by his own celleiit men require skilful and faithful pens ; that
the exactness and truth of their characters may be
adorned with all purity, force, and propriety of
style; and that the writer should be animated with
a portion of that genius which made the person, he
draws for the knowledge and imitation of posterity,
famous in his generation. But the reputation of our
author hath received so great a brightness from his
own pen, that it needs no auxiliary light to increase
its lustre; and his character is so secure from his
own works, the immortal monuments of his true
worth, that I am the less concerned for my own
inability to embalm his memory ; especially since I
DR. GEORGE BULL. a
hope the weight and importance of the matter, will
make some amends for those defects that may arise
from the manner of handling it. But besides, if he
had been silent in his lifetime, yet being dead he
still speaketh with so much clearness and strength
of reason ; with so masterly a knowledge in his own
profession, the best of studies ; with such an affecting
pathos, that impresseth it upon the minds of others ;
and, above all, with such an inward sense of piety
and devotion, the true Christian unction, in those
sermons and discourses which are now published,
that the world would not have been at a loss to have
framed a just idea of this consummate divine, if
these remains had been the only works of his which
were to have been conveyed down to posterity.
I hope I may presume that this undertaking will why it
not be altogether unacceptable to the learned, be-
cause it attempteth to gratify a curiosity which
prevaileth much, and is nourished among them ;
whereby they are prompted to search for and in
quire after the minutest circumstances, that relate
to such authors who are no otherways known to
them, than by those learned works they have left
behind them. And I promise myself that good
men will not be wanting in that candour which is
essential to their character, and which inclineth
them to be favourable to all attempts of this nature;
because they freely allow that it is but just that the
memory of the servants of God should be preserved
in the church ; not only that their names may be
mentioned with honour, and that they may be had
in everlasting remembrance ; but that their virtues
may remain upon record to provoke others to love
and good works. For as it is esteemed a piece of
B 2
4 THE LIFE OF
respect to commit their bodies to the grave with
the decency at least, if not with the pomp, of a
funeral ; and yet further to perpetuate their memo
ries by the magnificence of monuments, and the
eloquence of inscriptions, though all this serveth
chiefly to cover the frightfulness of mortality; so
the same charity and respect oblige us to set their
virtuous and pious actions in a clear light, that we
may discover the beauty and brightness of them, in
order the better to reverence them, as well as to
direct our own steps. It being very reasonable that
we should not be more solicitous to bury them with
honour, than we are to make them rise in ourselves
by remembrance and imitation.
Reasons What I apprehend will carry this Life to a greater
for the ill .
length of length than 1 at first imagined, is the history or
those important controversies in which our learned
author was engaged ; and the abstract of those
fundamental doctrines which he hath, with great
perspicuity of style and matter, delivered in the lan
guage of the learned. The particulars that relate to
the first certainly come in as a part of his Life;
and the other was necessary to be attempted, that
those readers, whose knowledge is confined to their
own language, might have a truer notion of the
capacity and genius of that reverend prelate, whose
Life I am about to write, and therefore I hope I
have a just title to their pardon for the length of it.
And so, beseeching God to enable me to finish what
I begin in his name, and dedicate to his honour and
glory, I shall proceed to the subject I have under
taken.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 5
I. T\R. GEORGE BULL, the late learned bishop ,634.
L/ of St. David's, was born in the parish of St. Wht^F
Cuthbert at Wells, in the county of Somerset, onSreWaSIr'
the twenty-fifth of March, 1634, being the feast of born-
the Annunciation of the blessed Virgin. So that the
place and day where he first saw the light were very
remarkable : the one for being a bishop's seat, and
giving title to the see near two hundred years before
the denomination of Bath was added, and procured
precedency in the style ; the other for being distin
guished among the greatest festivals in the Christ
ian calendar, if we consider it not only as instituted
in honour of the Virgin Mary, the mother of our
Lord, whom all generations are to call blessed, but
as it related to the incarnation of the Son of God,
the Saviour of the world. And it so fell out by the
disposition of Providence, that this learned man lived
to adorn both the subjects of this festival ; the latter
in his admirable defence of the Nicene faith, and
the former in that excellent sermon of the follow
ing collection, which asserteth and vindicateth those
great privileges and excellencies, which were the
blessed Virgin's peculiar honour and ornament.
His descent was from an ancient family of very His family
good note among the gentry in Somersetshire, where age.
they have a very handsome seat, and a very fair and
large estate at Shapwick in the said county. His
father, Mr. George Bull, was second son of William
Bull, esq. who had ten sons and eight daughters;
so that by reason the family was so numerous, he
was bred to a trade in Wells, and became a principal
member in that corporation. The settling him in
the world after this manner was very much against
6 THE LIFE OF
1634. his own desire; which carried him towards a learned
education, which he designed the rather that he
might become particularly serviceable to the church
of God ; but the choice of his parents determined
him another way, in which he succeeded much bet
ter than they ordinarily do, who engage against the
bent of their inclinations. The direct male line of
this ancient family being now extinctb, the estate is
devolved upon Mrs. Eleanor Doddington, sole heiress
of Henry Bull, esq. of Shapwick, and wife of George
Doddington, esq. who is member of parliament for
the borough of Bridgwater, and was one of the late
lords commissioners of the admiralty. By this it
appears that Mr. Bull was by extraction a gentle
man, an advantage which he the less wanted, be
cause he was engaged in a profession, which is not
only highly honourable in itself, but conferreth
greater degrees of honour on those who are the best
born. And let the family be never so conspicuous,
the learning and piety of any branch of it addeth
more to its true lustre and glory, than it is capable
of giving by any blood it can convey.
He was ear- It may not be amiss to observe here, that Mr. Bull
edtotiie was dedicated to the service of the church at the
the^hiirch same time that he was made a member of it ; for his
father declared at the font, that he intended him for
holy orders. In which he was the more zealous, by
reason of the disappointment he had met with him
self from the fixed resolutions of his parents, who
would never comply with his earnest and repeated
desires of being made a clergyman. But this good
b [In Shapwick church there are monuments to many of the
family : the latest is that of Henry Bull, son of William and
Joanna Bull, who died in 1751.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 7
man did not live to see his pious design put in exe- 1638.
cution ; for dying when his son George was but four ~~
years old, he could not have made one step in that
education which was necessary to qualify his son for
the service of the altar. I venture to call him a
good man, because the memory that is still preserved
of him representeth him as a person that was very
conscientious in his dealings, and very pious towards
God ; and when he left off his trade, which he was
never well pleased with, because it diverted him
from holy orders, which he chiefly coveted, he gave
considerable charities to the poor; and after having
been twice mayor of the city of Wells, became a
benefactor to the corporation. But though his father
left several daughters, yet George was his only son,
who was committed to the care and tuition of
guardians by his father's last will, with an estate of
200^. per annum, which had a rent-charge upon it
of near 50/. a year, payable to his father's widow,
who was his mother-in-law ; for his own mother c
died soon after he was born. Thus by the provi
dence of God, and the care of a good parent, he was
enabled to support the charge of a liberal education,
which many famous men have obtained with great
difficulty, and not without the assistance of persons
charitably disposed ; and what good use he made of
such an advantage, we may be instructed from the
ensuing passages of his life.
II. When he was fit to receive the first rudiments Educated
, , at Tiverton
of learning, he was placed in a grammar-school at school in
Wells, where he continued not long; but by the0'
c [Her maiden name was Elizabeth Perkyns. Wood.}
8 THE LIFE OF
1634. care of his guardians was to great advantage re
moved to the free-school of Tiverton in Devonshire,
of the greatest note of any in the west of England.
This school was founded by Mr. Peter Blundel, a
clothier, in the year 1604, with a very good mainte
nance for a schoolmaster and usher, and is not more
considerable for its liberal endowment, than it is for
its stately and noble structure. There are 150 of
the foundation ; and if that number cannot be sup
plied from the town and parish of Tiverton itself,
which seldom furnisheth above half so many, then
the adjacent places have the advantage of providing
the rest ; for the scholars generally rather exceed
than fall short of the prescribed complement. It
hath the privilege of sending two fellows and two
scholars to Balliol college in Oxford, and the same
number of both to Sidney college in Cambridge,
which are chose here, and incorporated afterwards
into the respective societies in the universities. An
encouragement wisely contrived to preserve the
school in honour and reputation, and experience
confirmeth the observation ; for it not only flou-
risheth at present, but hath made the most consider
able figure of any in that part of the nation ever
since its first foundation.
An account Mr. Samuel Butler, the master under whom Mr.
t"/0fhhjrsac~ Bull was educated, was very eminent in his profes-
master. gjon an excellent grammarian both for Latin and
Greek, diligent in his office, and vigilant in his care
and observation of his scholars. He was recom
mended to this post by my lord chief justice Pop-
ham, who by the will of the founder was consti
tuted the chief director of every thing which related
to this free-school ; and he was so considerable in
DR. GEORGE BULL. 9
his employment, that when he removed to Tiverton, 1634.
he brought several gentlemen's sons with him ; so ~
that he had scholars from many parts of the kin<r-
dom, and bred several persons, considerable for their
learning, during the long time he continued master,
which was above six and thirty years.
Mr. Bull, by his great diligence, and by a remark- ">« great
able pregnancy of parts, made a very considerable pn
progress in all classical learning, under a person who
was so able and so willing to instruct him. And it
was the usual method of this master, when he gave
his boys themes for verses, to press them to exert
themselves and to do their best, because he judged
how far each boy's capacity would carry him ; but
he always told George Bull, that he expected from
him verses like those of Ovid ; because, saith he, I
know you can do it. Sufficiently thereby intimating
that his scholar had a capacity and genius which
enabled him to excel in such exercises. And we
may very well suppose that the master took no small
pains in cultivating such a good soil, and that the
scholar was not less observant of the rules and di
rections which were proposed to him by so able an
instructor, when we are assured that Mr. Bull was
every ways fit for the university before he attained
the fourteenth year of his age.
III. Thus young was Mr. Bull removed from the Removed
» to 1/xeter
free-school of Tiverton to Exeter college in Oxford, college in
Oxford.
where he was entered a commoner the tenth day of
July, 1648. Here he was placed under the care of l648-
Mr. Baldwin Ackland, who was his tutor, and very
considerable for his learning and piety, zealous for
his sovereign, when so many of his subjects and
10 THE LIFE OF
1648. friends forsook him, and true to the interest of the
church in her most afflicted circumstances. Yet
notwithstanding that he was under the direction of
so zealous and orthodox a divine, it must not be
concealed that Mr. Bull lost much of the time he
spent at the university, and he frequently mentioned
it himself with great sorrow and regret ; though he
did not, as it is too usual, impute this misfortune of
his life to any remissness in the government of the
place, or to any negligence in his tutor, but to the
great rawness and inexperience of his age. For
being transplanted very young from the strict disci
pline of a school to the enjoyment of manly liberty,
before he had consideration enough to make use of
it to the best purposes, he was overpowered by that
love of pleasure and diversion, which so easily cap
tivate youth when it is not upon the guard. But as
the freedoms he took were chiefly childish follies,
so when he prosecuted them with the greatest
earnestness, he still gave sufficient evidence of an
extraordinary genius, and by the help of his logical
rules which he made himself master of with little
labour, and his close way of maintaining his argu
ment, which was natural to him, he quickly got the
reputation of a smart disputant, and as such was
taken notice of by his superiors.
Taken no- There were two great men at that time who had
tice of by .
two great a particular regard for him ; the one was Dr. Co-
nant, the rector of the colleged, who encouraged
learning during his government, and gave an exam
ple of piety to those under his care. It is true that
a [He was not made rector till June 1649, eleven months after
Hull's admission.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 11
he was one of the commissioners on the presbyterian 1648-9.
side at the conference in the Savoy, and that he re- ~
fused to subscribe the Act of Conformity in 1662 ;
but afterwards, upon better thoughts, he complied,
and became minister of Northampton, was made
archdeacon of Norwich, and installed prebendary of
Worcester, and died possessed of these preferments,
and a worthy member of the church of England, in
a good old age, in March 1693. The other was
that great prelate, bishop Prideaux e, who by his
learned works was famous abroad as well as in his
own country, which, with his steady loyalty to his
sovereign, made him worthy of the bishopric of
Worcester, which was conferred upon him in 1641,
though by the confusions of those times he reaped
little or no advantage from it ; for he died in mean
circumstances in September, 1650, and left no legacy
to his children but pious poverty, God's blessing, and
a father's prayers, as he expresseth it himself in his
last will. This learned bishop, in those times of
persecution, fled for sanctuary in or near that col
lege which he had formerly governed as rector with
great applause. Both these considerable persons
took more notice than ordinary of Mr. Bull ; they
would frequently call upon him to mind his studies,
and took all occasions to encourage him in the pro
secution of them ; and their advice he would often
own made very deep impressions upon him. Which
sheweth of what consequence it is for men of figure
and authority to cultivate those tender minds that
are under their government, by animadverting some
times upon their faults, and, when there is occasion,
e [John Prideaux.]
12 THE LIFE OF
1648-9. by exciting their industry with just commendations
and proper encouragements.
Acquainted While Mr. Bull resided in Exeter college, he sat
with Mr. °
Clifford, at the same table, and contracted a particular ac-
lord high8 quaintance, with Mr. Clifford, who afterwards came
Ier' by several gradual promotions to enjoy the greatest
post in this kingdom : for after he had served in
several parliaments, and had been present in several
engagements at sea, in the war against the Dutch,
and had been employed abroad in several embassies ;
and in all those posts having given great proofs of
his courage and capacity, and skill in business, he
was first made comptroller, and afterwards treasurer
of the king's household, one of the commissioners of
the treasury, and for some time, during the earl of
Arlington's absence in Holland, executed the office
of secretary of state; in 1672, he was created baron
Clifford of Chudleigh in Devonshire, and in the same
year made lord high treasurer of England, which
white staff he resigned in June the year following,
being not willing, as it was said, to qualify himself
according to the Test act. But this greatness of
Mr. Bull's friend was attended with no advancement
to his fellow collegiate ; though I am informed his
lordship did make some attempts to procure Mr.
Bull preferment ; and solicited my lord keeper Bridg-
inan particularly for a prebend of Gloucester ; but it
is possible that my lord's reign of favour being short f,
he might retire from his great employments before
there happened any vacancy in that church ; besides
1 [He was lord keeper from Aug. 30, 1667, to Nov. 5, 1672,
between which dates the application must have been made, while
Bull was rector of Suddington.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 13
Mr. Bull living at a distance from court, and not 1648-9.
understanding the art of intriguing for preferment, ~~
might easily be forgot by a great man, who never
wanted such in his eye that made interest for his
favour.
IV. Mr. Bull had not been admitted two years He retires
in Exeter college before the Engagement was im- ford upon
posed upon the nation by a pretended act of parlia- ™, ^f '
mt.
1649.
ment, which passed in January, 1649- The kingly ment-
office being abolished upon the murder of an excel
lent prince, it was declared, that for the time to
come England should be governed as a common
wealth by parliament ; that was, by that handful of
men who, by their art and power and villainy, had
wrought that wonderful alteration. And that they
might secure their new government, and have some
obligations of obedience from their subjects for the
future, who had broken all the former oaths which
they had taken, as is observed by a noble author*,
this new oath was prepared and established ; the
form whereof was, that every man should swear,
That he would be trite and faithful to the com
monwealth of England, as it was then established,
without a king or house of lords. And whosoever
refused to take that engagement, was to be incapa
ble of holding any place or office in church or state ;
and they, who had no employments to lose, were to
be deprived of the benefit of the law, and disabled
S [Lord Clarendon, who says that the substance of the oath
was, that every man should swear, that he would be true and faith
ful to the government established without king or house of peers,
and that he would never consent to the readmitting either of
them again.]
14 THE LIFE OF
1649. from suing in an}7 court. There was great zeal
shewn in several places to procure this acknowledg
ment and submission from the people to this new
government ; particularly all the members of the
university were summoned to appear, and solemnly
to own the right and title of the commonwealth to
their allegiance. Our young student appeared upon
this occasion, and signalized himself by refusing to
take the oath. The several hypotheses that were
then started to make men easy under a change of
government, which was directly contrary to the
national constitution, could not prevail upon him to
comply. Neither the argument of providence, nor
present possession, nor the advantages of protection,
which were all pleaded in those times, were strong
enough to influence a mind that was early deter
mined to be constant in his duty towards the church
and the king.
He goes It must be owned that it was a great happiness
Tutor Mr. to Mr. Bull, that his tutor Mr. Ackland set him an
toCNorth example °f this steady loyalty; for then precepts
operate to the best purpose, when we strengthen
them by our own practice. But besides, Mr. Bull
had this further advantage from Mr. Ackland's re
fusing the engagement, that they retired together
from the university to North- Cadbury in Somerset
shire, whither also many other of his pupils, who
were desirous to continue under the conduct of so
good and so able a man, quickly followed ; where
they pursued their studies without distraction ; and
found that quiet in a village, which they had in vain
sought for in a college. It is not certain how long-
he continued with his tutor in this retirement ; but
by the best judgment that can be made, in a fact at
DR. GEORGE BULL. 15
such a distance, it is highly probable they did not 1653.
part till Mr. Bull had attained the nineteenth year~
of his age; and so consequently that he then laid
that foundation of learning, which is necessary as a
preliminary to any particular learned profession, and
upon which he built his future studies in divinity.
And what was yet of greater importance, by this He was in-
, . tit fluenoed to
retreat into ms own country, he had frequent con- great sen-
• , i £ -i • • ,_ n . ousness by
verse with one or ms sisters, a woman of incompara- a sister.
ble parts, and of solid piety, whose good sense exer
cised itself chiefly upon the best objects ; for she
made religion her great care and employment. It
was this woman that the providence of God made
instrumental in reducing Mr. Bull entirely from his
youthful vanities ; for by the strength of her reason
she exposed the folly and emptiness of them : by
the frequency of her admonitions she prevailed upon
him to consider the weight of what she urged ; and
by the tender and affectionate manner with which
all her discourses were tinctured, she made deep
impressions upon his mind ; but above all, by the
ardency and fervour of her prayers, she prevailed for
such a supply of divine grace as enabled him to for
sake them. This substantial proof of friendship he
always remembered with great gratitude to God
and his sister ; and that seriousness of mind which
Heaven by her means bestowed upon him, had an
admirable effect upon his studies, which he now
prosecuted with such earnestness, as rendered him
afterwards so useful and so famous in the world.
V. His application and industry began now to be impute
conspicuous ; and having no thoughts of returning under the
, .conduct of
to the university, the state and condition thereof an eminent
divine.
16 THE LIFE OF
1653- being at that time no ways inviting, he was advised
by his guardians and other relations to put himself
under the conduct of some eminent divine, whose
knowledge and skill might steer him right in his
theological studies, which he purposed to prosecute,
and whose pious example might season his mind
with all those Christian virtues, which are requisite
not only for the government of a private life, but are
also necessary to discharge the duties of that sacred
function in which he designed to engage.
Theadvan- And upon this occasion I cannot help wishing,
tage of se- „ .... «» • i i • 1 1 T i
from the hearty affection and good-will 1 bear to
of"" the welfare of religion in general, and to the pros-
holy orders- perity of the church of England in particular, that
as we have noble foundations for the encouragement
of all sorts of learning, and especially for divinity
itself, in our two famous universities, which are the
wonder of the world for the number of their col
leges, their stately structures, and liberal endow
ments ; so that we had also some of these founda
tions entirely set apart for the forming of such as are
candidates for holy orders, where they might be
fully instructed in all that knowledge which that
holy institution requires, and in all those duties
which are peculiarly incumbent upon a parochial
priest. Where lectures might be daily read, which
in a certain course of time should include a per
fect scheme of divinity ; where all particular cases
of conscience might be clearly stated, and such gene
ral rules laid down, as might be able to assist them
in giving satisfaction to all those that repair to them
for advice in difficult matters. Where they might
receive right notions of all those spiritual rights
which are appropriated to the priesthood, and which
DR. GEORGE BULL. 17
are not in the power of the greatest secular person 1653.
either to convey or abolish ; and yet are of such great
importance, that some of them are not only neces
sary to the well-being, but to the very being of the
church. Where they might be taught to perform all
the public offices of religion with a becoming gravity
and devotion, and with all that advantage of elo
cution, which is aptest to secure attention, and beget
devout affections in the congregation. Where they
might particularly be directed, how to receive clini
cal confessions, how to make their applications to
persons in times of sickness, and have such a method
formed to guide their addresses of that nature, that
they might never be at a loss when they are called
upon to assist sick and dying persons. Where they
might be instructed in the art of preaching; where
by I mean not only the best method in composing
their sermons, but all those decent gestures and
graceful deportment, the influence whereof all hear
ers can easier feel than express. And where they
might have such judicious rules given them for pro
secuting their theological studies as would be of
great use to them in their future conduct. But,
above all, where they might be formed by constant
practice, and by the example of their superiors, to
piety and devotion, to humility and charity, to mor
tification and self-denial, to contentedness and sub
mission to the will of God in all conditions of human
life; and more especially excited to great zeal in
promoting the salvation of souls, which is the true
spring of all that industry and application which is
required in the clerical function.
It would be a mighty satisfaction to the governors The fruit to
i i_ i j ')e reaped
of the church, to ordain persons who had passed from them.
c
18 THE LIFE OF
some time in such seminaries with the approbation
of their superiors. It would be no small comfort to
the candidates themselves to be so qualified by the
purity of their intentions, and by their personal
endowments, as to find themselves able to answer,
with a good conscience, that important demand in
ordination, Whether they trust they are inwardly
moved by the Holy Ghost to take upon them that
office and ministration f And it would certainly be
a great blessing to the nation to have such labourers
sent into the vineyard of the Lord, as had been
wrought up by particular application and study to
that purpose. That man knoweth but little of the
dignity and importance of the priesthood, that can
content himself with ordinary attainments for the
discharge of so great and so sacred a trust ; and yet
he will find himself very much deceived, if he de-
pendeth upon the greatest perfection of human
knowledge, without constant and fervent prayer to
God for his grace to enable him to make a right
use of it. This is necessary to sanctify his learning,
though it be of never so prodigious a size ; by keep
ing him within the bounds of humility, and by ren
dering him serviceable to those who are committed
to his charge. But to proceed.
He is put The times being very distracted when Mr. Bull
direction of was advised, as I said, to put himself under the
mas Th° direction of some eminent divine, his guardians and
relations were very much divided in their opinions
as to the choice of the person under whose care he
was to be placed. His uncle, William Bull, esq.h
h [He died in 1676, having married Jane, daughter and coheir
of Henry Southworth, of Wells, esq.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 19
of Shapvvick, and some others, inclined to Dr. Ham- 1653.
mond, a most eminent episcopal divine, whose name""
will always be mentioned with honour and respect
by those who are true friends to the church of Eng
land ; for he adhered to her when her condition was
most deplorable, defended her doctrines and disci
pline by his learned and judicious pen, and adorned
them by a conversation strictly virtuous and pious.
But they prevailed who proposed Mr. William Tho
mas, rector of Ubley, in the county of Somerset, to
which preferment he was advanced by the free and
unsolicited bounty of Thomas Egerton, baron of
Ellesmere, and lord chancellor of England. This
Mr. Thomas was then in great reputation for his
piety, and esteemed one of the chief ministers of his
time in the neighbourhood where he lived. He was
always reckoned a puritan, and closed with the
presbyterian measures in 1642, and was appointed
an assistant to the commissioners of Oliver Crom
well, for the ejecting such whom they then called
scandalous, ignorant, and insufficient ministers and
schoolmasters. He lived to be ejected himself for
nonconformity, though he died among his parish
ioners in 1667- Mr. Bull complied with the de
termination of his guardians1, and put himself under
the direction of Mr. Thomas, in whose house he
boarded with some of his own sisters for the space
of two years ; where he had the advantage indeed
1 [Wood says, that upon his leaving Oxford he " sojourned in
" the house of Mr. Henry Jeanes, rector of Chedzoy, in the same
" county, (Somerset,) and did under him improve his knowledge
" much in academical learning." Chedzoy is not far from Shap-
wick. Bull must have resided there between his being at North-
Cadbury, and his going to Ubley.]
c 2
20 THE LIFE OF
1653. of living in a very regular family, but he received
little or no real improvement or assistance from him
in his study of divinity, and would often lament his
great misfortune in that choice.
He con- However it must be owned, that there was one
friendship circumstance that made Mr. Bull some amends for
with Mr. the time he lost under this director, which was, the
Thomas s
son, which opportunity he had by this means of contracting an
was very
advantage- intimate acquaintance with Mr. Samuel Thomas, the
a> son of Mr. William Thomas ; a person of a very
valuable character for his piety and learning, who
was afterwards chaplain at Christ Church in Oxford,
vicar of Chard in Somersetshire, and prebendary of
Wells. The friendship now begun, was -afterwards
cultivated by many mutual kind offices, and when
they were at a distance it was supported by a fre
quent correspondence. Before this acquaintance
with Mr. Samuel Thomas, Mr. Bull had spent his
time entirely in reading little systems of divinity,
and had arrived at so great a perfection in that
method of study, and was particularly so thoroughly
versed in Wollebiusk, that he was master of all those
objections and solutions which so frequently occur
in those writings. But his judgment being now
come to a greater ripeness, he grew more and more
out of conceit with that sort of divinity, and applied
himself to the reading of other books, such as he
relished better, and were more adapted to his ge
nius ; such as Hooker, Hammond, Taylor, Grotius,
Episcopius, &c., with which his friend, Mr. Samuel
Thomas, was ready to supply him, though at the
k [Wollebius was a professor at Basle, and wrote a work called
Compendium Theologian Christiana, Amstel. 1638.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 21*
hazard of his father's displeasure; for the old man 1653.
had a watchful eye over Mr. Bull, and never found
any of these books in his study, without giving visi
ble marks of his anger and resentment: for being
well acquainted with his son's principles, and with
the intimate correspondence there was between
them, he easily guessed from what quarter he was
provided with so much heterodoxy, and would often
say, " My son will corrupt Mr. Bull." Thus it
pleased the good providence of God to correct the
disadvantages of his education, and by a favourable
circumstance to strike such light into his mind, as
preserved him from the bad principles of those times,
and directed his understanding in distinguishing
truths of very great importance.
VI. Soon after that he left Mr. Thomas, he enter- He enters
tained thoughts of going into holy orders; he had orders? Y
read enough to convince him, that mere presbyters
had no power to give him a commission to exercise
the sacred function, especially when the plausible
plea of necessity could not be urged, which yet very
seldom hath any great strength in it ; because when
positive institutions cannot be had whole and entire
as God hath ordained them, with submission I speak
it, I think they cease to be necessary. In this case
Mr. Bull sought out for an unexceptionable hand,
that his mission might be valid, according to the
practice of the Christian church for fifteen hundred
years, which affordeth not one instance of presbyte-
rian ordination, but what was condemned by the
universal voice of the catholic church. And being
thus satisfied from whence he was to receive his
spiritual powers, he applied himself to Dr. Skinner,
£2 THE LIFE OF
1653. the ejected bishop of Oxford1, by whom he was
~ ordained deacon and priest in one day. This suffer
ing prelate had the courage, even in those times of
usurpation, to send many labourers into the Lord's
vineyard, according to the liturgy of the church of
England, when the exercising this his power was
made penal. He lived indeed to be restored to his
see, from whence he was translated to the bishopric
of Worcester in 1663, and died full of years in 1670.
He had been tutor to the famous Mr. William Chil-
lingworth, the author of The Religion of Pro
testants a safe Way of Salvation, &c., and was one
of those twelve bishops that subscribed in 1641 a
protestation against the force that was used to their
persons in attending the house, and against the im
moderate proceedings of the parliament in their
absence ; for which they were impeached of high
treason, and committed prisoners to the Tower,
where they remained till the bill for putting them
out of the house was passed, which was not till many
months111 after. His lordship, though he was willing
to ordain Mr. Bull, yet refused to give him or any
others letters of orders under his own hand and seal,
for this prudential reason ; because he was appre
hensive some ill use might be made of them, if they
1 [Robert Skinner was made bishop of Bristol in 1636, and
translated to Oxford in 1641. When deprived of his see he re
tired to his rectory of Launton near Bicester : and Wood says,
that he was supposed to be the only bishop who conferred orders
during the usurpation : and, after his majesty's return, 1 03 persons
did at once take holy orders from him in the abbey church at
Westminster ; and very many frequently in his respective dioceses
where he successively sat.]
m [Eighteen weeks. Wood.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 23
fell into the hands of those unjust powers which 1653.
then prevailed; who had made it criminal for a~
bishop to confer holy orders ; but withal he assured
him, that when the ancient apostolical government
of the church should be restored, which he did not
question but a little time would bring about, his let
ters of orders should be sent him, in what part soever
of the nation he then lived, however it should please
God to dispose of his lordship; which was accord
ingly punctually complied with, upon the happy
restoration of king Charles the Second.
By this account it appeareth, that Mr. Bull was He was but
but one and twenty when he was made priest n, twemy1
which is much short of that age which is required Jhen or-
damed.
by the canons of the church from the candidates of 1655.
the priesthood ; but upon his examination, he ac
quitted himself so perfectly well, that though the
bishop was rightly informed as to that circumstance,
yet he was pleased to say, that the church wanted
persons qualified as he was, and that he could not
make too much haste, when his pains and labour
might be of such importance ; that as to the canons,
they could not be observed strictly in such times of
difficulty and distress, and that he did dispense with
his want of canonical age as much as in him lay.
11 [This irregularity is noticed in a collection of queries, printed
without date, entitled, Some Queries recommended to the Con
sideration of the more rigid and clamorous Rubricians, the 23d
and last of which is, " Whether bishop Taylor, bishop Bull, and
" archbishop Sharp, who were all ordained priests before the age
" of twenty-four, and were allowed to have cure of souls in Eng-
" land, were yet not clergymen of the church of England ?"
Jeremy Taylor was ordained before the age of twenty-one, and so
was archbishop Usher. See Comber on Ordination, p. 63.]
24 THE LIFE OF
l655- And it is not to be wondered at, considering the
melancholy circumstances the church was then in,
that his lordship received with open arms a candi
date, who was so well disposed and qualified to
maintain and defend her doctrines and discipline,
and had nothing but his youth to be objected
against him.
This for- I think it may be fairly inferred from this early
such times " dedication of himself to the service of the altar, in a
nlentof his ^me wnen rebellion and sacrilege rid triumphant,
w*1- that in his youth and flower of his days he had a
true relish for piety, and a zeal for the salvation of
souls. The church of England, which is, and that
justly, the glory of the Reformation, was then laid in
the dust ; she was ruined under a pretence of being
made more pure and more perfect. Episcopacy, a
divine institution, and therefore in no case to be de
viated from, was abolished as antichristian ; our ad
mirable liturgy was laid aside as defiled with the
corruptions and innovations of popery ; and the
revenues, which the piety of our ancestors had esta
blished for the maintenance of our spiritual fathers,
were ravenously seized on by sacrilegious laymen,
and alienated to support the usurpation. These
discouraging circumstances did not damp the zeal
of this servant of God, but he engaged in the service
of the church when the arguments from flesh and
blood were least inviting. When men propose the
glory of God and the good of souls as the chief mo
tive in the choice of their sacred profession, as they
want not the prospect of riches and grandeur to in
vite them to undertake it, neither are they terrified
with those difficulties that lie in the way of such an
important service. The pilot is then most necessary,
DR. GEORGE BULL. 25
when the ship is exposed to be driven on rocks and 1655.
sands : and not to shrink from the exercise of his
skill upon such occasions, distinguished! his courage
and resolution, as well as his zeal, to save those who
are in the same bottom with himself.
VII. When he was furnished with those sacer- He settles
dotal powers, which are the characteristic of a pres- George's
byter, he embraced the first opportunity the provi- ™™
dence of God offered for the exercising of them
according to his commission. A small living near
Bristol, called St. George's0, presenting itself, he the
rather accepted it, because the income was very
inconsiderable ; it being very likely, that upon that
account he would be suffered to reside without dis
turbance from the men of those times, who would
not think it worth their pains to persecute and dis
possess him for 30/. a year. Before he settled at
this place, he met by accident with one of his god
fathers, Mr. Hall, a clergyman, who acquainted him
with the declaration his father had made when he
was baptized, which gave him no small pleasure and
satisfaction, in that he had fulfilled the intention of
his father from the bent of his own inclination and
free choice, without having ever till that time re
ceived the least intimation concerning it. When he
came to fix at St. George's, he found the parish to
abound with quakers and other wild sectaries, who
held very extravagant opinions, which the people
there and in the adjacent parts were very ready to
run into ; but by his constant preaching twice every
0 [It is properly called Easton in Gordano, five miles from Bris
tol ; it is a prebend belonging to the cathedral of Wells, and the
vicarage is a peculiar.]
26 THE LIFE OF
l655- Lord's day, by his sound doctrine and exemplary
life, by his great charities, (for he expended more
annually in relieving the poor of all sorts than the
whole income of his living amounted to,) and by his
prudent behaviour, he gained very much upon the
affections of his parishioners, and was very instru
mental in preserving many, and reclaiming others,
from those pernicious errors which then were com
mon among them.
A little There was a petty occurrence which happened a
which con- little after he came to this living, which contributed
h7sbreputa°- verv mucn to the establishing his reputation as a
tion. preacher, in so disaffected a place as this was ; and
since oftentimes from very little seeming accidents,
such as this, there have been, as is known to every
one's observation, most considerable effects wrought
out ; it is hoped hence that the notice of it will not
be thought altogether unuseful, or be unacceptable
for appearing at first trivial. Now the matter was
this : One Sunday when he had begun his sermon,
as he was turning over his Bible to explain some
texts of Scripture which he had quoted, it happened
unfortunately (as it was thought) that his notes,
contained in several small pieces of paper, flew out
of his Bible into the middle of the church ; by which
means there was instantly raised a laughter in many
of his congregation, consisting chiefly of wild sea
faring persons : these concluding that their young
preacher would now, for want of his materials, be
entirely at a nonplus, were not a little pleased ; and
prepared themselves hereupon to sport at him with
an air of contempt, not considering him as the min
ister of Christ to them in the weakness of flesh ;
but some who were sober, or better-natured than the
DR. GEORGE BULL. 27
rest, condemning the levity of those scoffers, with 1655.
great concern gathered them up, and carried them
to him in his pulpit. Mr. Bull took them ; but,
perceiving most of the company there present to be
rather inclined to triumph over him in that surprise,
and to insult his youth, which stood in need of such
props, immediately clapped his notes into his book
again and shut it, not without a great presence of
mind, and then gave himself the liberty of discours
ing to them on the spot, prosecuting the subject
which he had begun ; which he performed so very
much to their satisfaction, that they who at first
were most inclined to laugh at him, began to grow
serious ; and from despising him, were at length so
affected with his discourse, that this mightily ad
vanced his reputation for the future among them,
and secured him the good-will and esteem of those
very persons who had been so forward to divert
themselves at that, which they apprehended would
have exposed him to be a common derision.
For another time, while he was preaching,
. i •• turbed in
certain ranter, or qnaker, came into the clmrcn, anahissermon
made a disturbance in the midst of his sermon,ltyaqual
crying out aloud, George, come down ; tliou art a
false prophet and an hireling ; upon which the
parishioners, who were for the most part seamen,
and who loved their minister exceedingly, for his
great bounty and hospitality among them, as well as
for his good preaching, fell upon this poor quaker
with such fury, as obliged Mr. Bull to come down
out of the pulpit to quiet them, and to save him from
the effects of their resentment : so getting in among
them, and warding off the blows that were falling
very heavy upon the fellow, he said to them, " Come,
28 THE LIFE OF
1655- " neighbours, be not so violent against the poor man,
~ " but spare him ; you do not know what spirit he is
" acted by ; you cannot tell but that it may be phrensy
" in him, or some other distemper ; and if so, the
" man is certainly an object of your pity and care :
" however, let me prevail upon you to forbear, and
" hurt him not ; but let me, good neighbours, a little
" argue coolly the matter with him." After this
manner reasoning with them, they were somewhat
pacified, and were content to leave him to Mr. Bull's
management, and to hear whether he was able to
say any thing in justification or excuse of what he
had done : so Mr. Bull turned himself to the man,
and addressed himself to him after this manner :
" Friend, thou dost call me a false prophet and an
" hireling. Now as to thy first charge, prophecy
" doth generally mean either preaching and inter-
" preting God's word, or else foretelling things to
" come ; and so a prophet, either true or false, is
" understood in Scripture. Wherefore if thou dost
" mean I am a prophet in the first of these two
" senses, I readily acknowledge that I am so, and a
" true one also I hope, forasmuch as in all truth and
" sincerity, I have now for some time preached
" among this good people what I could learn to be
" agreeable to the doctrine of Christ and his apostles,
" not failing to interpret to them the mind of God
" in the Scriptures, without any other end but to
" bring them to the knowledge of the truth, and
" thereby to the attainment of life everlasting. But,
" friend, if thou dost call me a prophet, and a false
" prophet, from my foretelling things to come, I
" then appeal to my parishioners here present,
" whether I ever once pretended to this manner of
DR. GEORGE BULL. 29
" prophecy either in my sermons or in my discourses 1655.
" with them : and so in this sense I can be no false
" prophet, having never deceived any one by pre-
" tences of this nature. And as to the other charges
" against me, that I am an hireling, I appeal again
" to these here present and that know me, whether
" they can say that I have preached among them
" for the sake of gain or filthy lucre, and whether I
" have not on the contrary been ready on all occa-
" sions to serve and assist them to the utmost of my
" power, and to communicate as freely as I receive."
Upon which the people, being touched with a sense
of gratitude to this minister of God for his extraor
dinary kindness and constant bounty towards them,
but not mindful enough of that sacred regard which
was due to the place where they were met, and to
the occasion which brought them together, perceiv
ing the silly enthusiast at a perfect nonplus, and
not able to speak a word of sense in his own defence,
fell upon him a second time with such violence, that
had not Mr. Bull bustled very much among them,
and by great entreaties prevailed upon them to spare
him, and to lead and shut him out of the church,
they would have worried him upon the spot. After
which Mr. Bull went up again into his pulpit, and
finished his sermon.
VIII. Besides the ordinary duties of his function, Thcmethod
he took in
which he constantly performed, the method he took governing
in governing this parish contributed very much to
the welfare of the people committed to his charge,
and answered extremely the ends of his ministry.
He did not content himself only with preaching to
his flock on Sundays, and with going to the sick,
30 THE LIFE OF
when their languishing condition required spiritual
comfort and assistance ; but he visited all his pa
rishioners, rich and poor, without distinction, at their
own houses, in a certain compass of time ; not to
gratify their civil invitations, or his own diversion,
but to be serviceable to them in matters of the
greatest importance, the salvation of their souls.
And therefore upon these occasions the time was
not trifled away in empty talk, but his discourse
was suited to the several exigencies of those he
conversed with. Where he found people neglected
in their education, and ignorant in the fundamentals
of religion, those he instructed by explaining to them
what was necessary to be believed and practised in
order to their salvation. Where the ground was
overrun with weeds, and some good principles were
blended with false doctrines and pernicious errors,
there he discovered the dangerous consequences of
such tenets, and shewed how inconsistent they were
with the holy Scriptures, and the belief of all ortho
dox Christians. Where he perceived that men laid
all the stress upon a right faith, and, provided they
secured that part of the duty, were too apt to in
dulge themselves in some unchristian practices ;
those he admonished with all that freedom which
becometh a faithful pastor, assuring them, that with
out holiness no man shall see the Lord. Those
who laboured under any affliction received from
him advice and comfort, and were instructed how
to bear them, and how to make a right use of them.
Those who were oppressed with any doubts and
scruples in their Christian course had proper reme
dies applied to resolve them, and to free the persons
from that unquietness which possessed them. Where
DR. GEORGE BULL. 31
the pleasant path of virtue was steadily pursued, 1655.
those were exhorted to persevere and hold out to
the end, because in due time they should reap, if
they fainted not. But where vice and wickedness
were become habitual, those were sharply rebuked,
in order to reclaim them from those sins which
would infallibly be their ruin, without a speedy and
hearty repentance. By these means he became ac
quainted with the state of their souls, and was
thereby the better enabled to suit his discourses in
public to the several wants and grievances of his
people ; and from this practice he further reaped
another advantage, that he thoroughly understood
the necessities of those that were really poor, whose
hard circumstances he constantly relieved, either
from his own charity, or from the bounty of those
who supplied him upon all such occasions.
There was hardly a family in the parish which The parish
was not furnished with great store of antinomian wjth anti-
books, such doctrines prevailing very much in those |]°"k*a
times, which they read often and valued much ; and
therefore in these visits he took particular care to
examine what books they were most conversant in ;
and when he found what he had reason to suspect,
he constantly warned them against the poison they
were so familiar with. By this method, and the
blessing of God upon his endeavours, he quickly
convinced his parishioners of the false reasonings
that were contained in such antinomian books, and
how contrary the tenets maintained in them were to
the holy Scriptures, and how inconsistent with that
scheme of salvation which the blessed Jesus had
proposed to all his followers. There is one circum
stance in these visits which must not be forgot,
32 THE LIFE OF
l655- because it is very proper for the imitation of such
incumbents, who have any parishioners that keep at
a distance from their communion. When Mr. Bull
found any person, that either never came to the
parish church, or, after having frequented it, with
drew to some other communion, his constant prac
tice was to inquire who had seduced them, and
desired to know their names, in order to summon
them to a conference in the presence of the party
who had been prevailed upon to absent from the
parish church. These challenges were frequently
accepted ; for Mr. Bull being young, it was not
imagined that he was able to maintain and defend a
cause against persons of riper age, and who had been
long versed in the controversy ; but by the quick
ness and readiness of his parts, and by his close way
of maintaining an argument, which was very natural
to him, as I have already observed, he found his
account in these conferences, and had thereby very
great success in recovering his wandering sheep. As
to the younger sort of people, his custom was to
address to them in public as well as private, and
therefore he would pitch upon some week-day to
preach to them before he administered the holy
eucharist, that such as had not yet been admitted to
that divine ordinance might be thoroughly instructed
in the nature and design of the Christian sacrifice,
and might be taught what preparation was necessary
to qualify them to appear at the holy altar.
The excel- it must be allowed, that these rules by which he
lency of
Mr. Bull's managed himself in the government of his parish
method, i.ii T 11
were very admirable, and exceeding proper, by the
assistance of God's grace, to make his labours effec
tual for the good of souls, and very fit for the imita-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 33
tion of the parochial clergy, where their cures will 1655.
admit of such a particular application, and where
they are not yet fallen into such measures. But
what seemeth wonderful to me is, that a young man
of one and twenty (for Mr. Bull did not exceed that
age, when he first became incumbent of the living
of St. George's) should be able to frame so good a
scheme for his own conduct, and should have so
much industry and zeal, as to put it in execution.
Such methods as these, and such manly thoughts,
are usually the result of experience and riper years,
and seldom occur to those that just enter upon the
exercise of their holy function. By this we may fairly
conclude, that Mr. Bull was a man of no ordinary
capacity, but had a genius for that sacred office he
had espoused, and had strong impressions of his duty
in the flower of his youth, and was firmly bent to
spare no pains that were necessary to discharge it
to the honour of God and the good of souls.
IX. The iniquity of the times would not bear the The prayers
constant and regular use of the Liturgy ; to supply £$£.
therefore that misfortune, Mr. Bull formed all the
devotions he offered up in public, while he continued
minister of this place, out of the Book of Common
Prayer, which did not fail to supply him with fit
matter and proper words upon all those occasions
that required him to apply to the throne of grace
for a supply of the wants of his people. He had the
example of one of the brightest lights of that age,
the judicious Dr. Sanderson, to justify him in this
practice ; and his manner of performing the public
service was with so much seriousness and devotion,
with so much fervour and ardency of affection, and
D
34 THE LIFE OF
1655. with so powerful an emphasis in every part, that
^ they who were most prejudiced against the Liturgy,
did not scruple to commend Mr. Bull as a person
that prayed by the Spirit, though at the same time
they railed at the Common Prayer as a beggarly
element, and as a carnal performance.
Aninstance A particular instance of this happened to him
of the Com- J . . ,1.11
mon Prayer while he was minister of St. (jreorge s, which because
mired by it sheweth how valuable the Liturgy is in itself, and
ers when11 ~ wna* unreasonable prejudices are sometimes taken
used t,y Up against it, the reader will not, I believe, think it
unworthy to be related. He was sent for to baptize
the child of a dissenter in his parish ; upon which
occasion, he made use of the Office of Baptism, as
prescribed by the church of England, which he had
got entirely by heart ; and he went through it with
so much readiness and freedom, and yet with so much
gravity and devotion, and gave that life and spirit to
all that he delivered, that the whole audience was
extremely affected with his performance ; and not
withstanding that he used the sign of the cross, yet,
they were so ignorant of the Offices of the church,
that they did not thereby discover that it was the
Common Prayer. But after that he had concluded
that holy action, the father of the child returned
him a great many thanks, intimating at the same
time, with how much greater edification they prayed,
who entirely depended upon the Spirit of God for
His assistance in their extempore effusions, than
those did who tied themselves up to premeditated
forms ; and that if he had not made the sign of the
cross, that badge of popery, as he called it, nobody
could have formed the least objection against his
excellent prayers. Upon which Mr. Bull, hoping
DR. GEORGE BULL. 35
to recover him from his ill-grounded prejudices, ,655.
shewed him the Office of Baptism in the Liturgy, ~
wherein was contained every prayer which he had
offered up to God on that occasion ; which, with
farther arguments that he then urged, so effectually
wrought upon the good man and his whole family,
that they always after that time frequented the
parish church, and never more absented themselves
from Mr. Bull's communion. From whence we
may reasonably conclude, that as a mistaken zeal
may throw contempt upon what justly deserves to
be admired ; so also that gravity, seriousness, and
devotion, in reading the prayers, are necessary to
secure that respect to the Liturgy which its own
excellency requireth from us.
While he remained minister of this parish, theAneminent
providence of God was pleased to appear wonder- waa"gpre-ie
fully in his preservation; for all those second causes frl0™d
that concur to protect us from any danger that
threateneth us, must be attributed to that all-wise
and powerful hand that overrules them. The lodg
ings he had taken in this place were contiguous to a
powdermill, where he pursued his studies with great
assiduity for several months ; till the gentleman of
the parish, Mr. Morgan, a person of unblemished
loyalty and affection to the church, and his lady,
daughter to sir William Master of Cirencester,
making him a visit, they observed to him the danger
he was exposed to by continuing longer in those
lodgings, and in a very friendly manner invited him
to their own house, where they assured him of all
that accommodation which was necessary and agree
able to him. He modestly for some time declined
this kind offer; but their repeated importunity at
D 2
36 THE LIFE OF
1655. last prevailed, and lie accepted of that obliging
proposal, which was the means, under God, of sav
ing his life ; for not many days after his removal to
Mr. Morgan's the mill was blown up, and his apart
ment with it, on such a day and hour as he had
always been in his study from the time he first came
to that place. So that he must inevitably have
perished, if his deliverance had not been wrought
out for him after this unexpected manner. This
singular goodness of God, which interposed in his
behalf, was received with all thankfulness ; and a
life thus preserved quickened his endeavours in pur
suing the true purposes of living.
He goes to During his being at St. George's, and some think
for a year or two before, his constant custom was
to make a journey once a year to the urn' versity of
Oxford, where he remained about two months to
enjoy the pleasure and advantage of the public libra
ries. It is a great misfortune to a young clergyman,
when he is confined to a country cure, to be destitute
of such books as are necessary to enable him to make
any considerable advance in his studies of divinity,
to which other parts of learning contribute their aid
and assistance, and therefore consequently are not
to be neglected. And if the solid foundation of use
ful knowledge is not laid, and the habit of studying
acquired, while men are in the prime of their days,
they seldom make any progress that will be able to
distinguish them from persons of ordinary attain
ments. But Mr. Bull, being sensible of what con
sequence it was to season his youth with all that
learning which he was then capable of attaining,
took the method I now mention to supply the want
of a good private library ; and by the great profi-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 37
ciency he made, it very sufficiently answered what 1655-
he proposed from it ; for here he nourished his mind
with fresh supplies of learning, and having nothing
to distract his thoughts, or to interrupt his studies,
we may reasonably suppose, that the advances he
made in those two months were much greater than
he could attain in double the time at his own cure,
where the constant duties of his parish challenged a
large share, and where the want of books hindered
him from employing his leisure to the greatest ad
vantage. Besides, he reaped another benefit from
this excursion, that the exercise of the journey con
tributed to the preservation of the health of his
body, which by a constant sedentary life is exposed
to many growing infirmities. In his way to Oxford,
and in his return, he always made a visit to sir Wil
liam Master of Cirencester, where he was constantly
received, as a very welcome guest, with great civi
lity and kindness. He usually upon these occasions
preached for the incumbent of that place, Mr. Alex
ander Gregory, whereby was laid the foundation of
such an acquaintance and friendship between them, as
was afterwards improved to so great an intimacy, that
in some time Mr. Bull married one of his daughters.
X. In the change of his condition Mr. Bull seemed Mr. Bull
0 ft marries
to have a regard chiefly to the character of the per- Mrs. Uri
son he chose for the companion of his life, and pre-^.y'ie'
ferred the qualifications of piety and virtue to those
temporal advantages, which for the most part in
fluence the minds of men upon such occasions. And
as this method ought to be pursued by all those that
would build their happiness upon a sure foundation
38 THE LIFE OF
1655-8. in a married state, so it appears still more necessary
in a clergyman, because not only himself, but his
family, ought to be a pattern to the whole parish.
For he hath solemnly promised, in the presence of
God, to apply himself diligently not only to frame
and fashion himself, but his family also, according
to the doctrine of Christ ; and to make not only
himself, but them also, as much as in him lieth,
wholesome examples to the flock of Christ. Now
what means can be so fitly adapted to this end as a
prudent mistress of a family, eminent in those vir
tues which are the peculiar ornament of the female
sex, such as devotion and purity, meekness and mo
desty, mercifulness and humility ; to which may be
added, that gravity of garb, and decency of dress,
which in a particular manner adorn the wife of a
clergyman, who will do honour to her husband, and
rise in the esteem of others, the more she keepeth at
a distance from the vanity and gayety of the age ?
The appearance of these Christian and proper en
dowments for the family of a priest, determined Mr.
Bull to conclude a marriage with Mrs. Bridget Gre
gory, daughter of Mr. Alexander Gregory, under
whose care she was educated with great modesty
and sobriety. They were joined together in holy
matrimony by Mr. William Master, vicar of Preston,
according to the form prescribed in the Book of
Common Prayer, the use of which was then forbid
den under a great penalty. But as Mr. Bull had a
particular regard to our excellent Liturgy, in those
times when it was the fashion to despise it; so he
had not a less esteem for the constitution of the
church ; for in order to render so serious an action,
racter.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 39
as matrimony is, still more solemn, he pitched upon 1658.
Ascension-day for the solemnizing of it, which, in~
1658, was the twentieth of May.
The success of such an important action answered Her ( -ha
th e care and caution that was used in bringing it to
pass ; for Mrs. Bull proved in all respects a fit con
sort for a clergyman, as being in her own nature
sufficiently provident, and yet well disposed to all
manner of good works, out of a true principle of
love to God and goodness. Her attire was very
plain and grave : her chief diversion was the care of
her family, and her main ambition was to please her
husband, to whom she was always a complying and
obedient wife. Yet her piety was not confined to
her own home, but extended itself to the whole
parish wherever she lived : for by the help of her
closet, and skill in surgery, she made herself ex
tremely useful and necessary upon all occasions, and
was very much beloved, especially by those of the
meaner sort. These advantages she improved to the
best purposes; for by these means she was highly
instrumental with the people of Avening, a living
which Mr. Bull was afterwards preferred to, espe
cially those of her own sex, to lay aside their preju
dices against the Common Prayer, to bring their
children to church to receive public baptism, which
they had not been used to do for many years before,
and to return thanks to God after childbirth, which
had been discontinued for some time in that parish.
Such was her charity, that she not only distributed
her own alms with great liberality and discretion,
but would frequently put the overseers of the poor
in mind of their duty ; that the sick and aged might
not want such supplies as they were obliged to fur-
40 THE LIFE OF
1658. nish, and the necessity of the indigent required. And
such was her concern for the souls of her neighbours,
that when her husband's infirmities made him, upon
occasions, unable to visit the sick, and that the cu
rate was accidentally from home, she would procure
this assistance, when to be had, from others; and
her worthy son-in-law Mr. Archdeacon Stephens well
knows, that he seldom went to pay his duty at her
house, but she would engage him to go along with
her to visit the sick, and to pray and discourse with
them. They were man and wife above fifty years P ;
and she is yet living at Brecknock 1 ; the people of
which place were so kind as to send a message to
her on purpose, after the bishop's death, to signify
their earnest desire and request, that she would
come and spend the remainder of her days among
them ; and though solicited by some of her relations
to live with them, yet she complied with this oblig
ing proposal, not so much from an inclination to live
at Brecknock, as to die there, being determined to
be buried near her deceased husband, who was there
interred ; and to this purpose the ground remains
still unpaved by her order, who daily waiteth for
her dissolution. She brought Mr. Bull five sons and
six daughters1", and so proved a fruitful as well as a
provident and obedient wife, which exactly answered
the prayer of her wedding-ring, which was, Bene
parere, parere, parare det mihi Dem.
P [Fifty-two years.]
i' [That is, when this Life was begun : before it was ended she
had died; as is mentioned by Nelson when speaking of the inter
ment of bishop Bull. She died Nov. \6, 1712, aged 75.]
r [Jones, the historian of Brecknockshire, says two daugh
ters.]
DH. GEORGE BULL. 41
XL About this year, 1658, he was presented to 1658.
the rectory of Suddington8 St. Mary, near Cirences- He was pr<T-
ter in Gloucestershire, which being a living under Suddington
value, was in the gift of the keeper of the seals for St< Mary's>
the time being, and consequently at the disposal of
those who at that time were no friends to the church
of England ; and yet Mr. Bull got the presentation,
not only without any mean application to the un
lawful powers then in possession, but very honestly
and honourably; the manner whereof was thus: the
lady Pool, who at that time lived at Cirencester, as
lady of the manor of Suddington, claimed a right of
presenting to that living; and having a respect for
Mr. Gregory, whose daughter Mr. Bull had married,
and a much greater for Mr. Bull himself afterwards,
as appeared by making him her executor, she offered
Mr. Bull the presentation, which he accepted purely
upon her right ; but he had certainly lost it if Mr.
Stone of Cirencester, a particular friend of Mr. Gre
gory's, had not taken out the broad seal without
Mr. Bull's knowledge or privity ; which he did upon
this occasion. A clergyman, who knew that Mr.
Bull had not a good title, endeavoured to get the
broad seal for his living; which he had certainly
succeeded in, if Mr. Stone had not been concerned
in the presentations ; for when that person addressed
to Mr. Stone for that purpose, he told him that there
was a minister lately settled at Suddington whose
name was Bull; to which the party replied, that
though he was in possession, yet he wanted the
legal title. Upon this Mr. Stone acquainted him,
that though he did not personally know Mr. Bull,
[s Or Siddington.]
42 THE LIFE OF
1658. yet he was not a stranger to his character; and
~ having heard that he had married a daughter of a
good friend of his, if he had not a good title, he
would help him to one ; and so took out the broad
seal for Mr. Bull, and sent it to Mr. Gregory, and
at the same time gave him an account, how much
danger his son-in-law had been in ; and all this Mr.
Stone did gratis, out of a great regard and esteem
for Mr. Gregory, which the providence of God made
use of for Mr. Bull's security.
l659- In the year 1659, the nation began to be very
I Ic W3.S
made privy sensible of the misery they had long groaned under,
sign of a" anc^ were very earnest to relieve themselves from
oppression, which had so long prevailed among
them ; and there was at that time a general disposi
tion all over the kingdom to concert measures for
the king's restoration. There were very few coun
ties in England, where there was not a formed un
dertaking by the most powerful men of the county,
to possess themselves of some considerable place that
might be serviceable to so good a purpose. Several
gentlemen in Mr. Bull's neighbourhood had frequent
meetings to consult how they might contribute their
share of advice and strength towards settling the
nation upon a right foundation, by restoring the heir
of the kingdom to the throne of his ancestors : and
Mr. Bull was at that time so well esteemed for his
loyalty and prudence, that the gentlemen admitted
him into their secret, and had that confidence in his
wise management, as well as in his good dispositions
to the church of England, and the royal family, that
they fixed upon his house at Suddington for one of
the places of their meeting. And accordingly we
find from the history of those times, that in July
DR. GEORGE BULL. 43
that year a general rendezvous was designed through- 1659.
out England, of all who would declare for the king, ~
there having been commissions in every county, di
rected to six or seven known men, with authority
to them to choose one to command in chief in that
county, till they should make a conjunction with
other forces who had a superior commission from
the king. But through the permission of divine
Providence, this undertaking was disappointed, and
sir George Booth, who was the only person among
many that were engaged that made a successful at
tempt in seizing upon Chester, was in a few days
defeated, and himself made a prisoner.
Upon the restoration, Mr. Bull frequently preached 1660.
at Cirencester, where there was a populous and large i,,g ^ct '
congregation; and he was the better able to
this assistance to his father-in-law Mr. Gregory, who casion of u-
by his great age and infirmities was disabled from
performing the duties of his function, because his
parish lay in that neighbourhood. Here his ser
mons gave that general satisfaction, that upon a va
cancy in that cure, the people were very solicitous
to procure for him the presentation ; but they could
not prevail upon him to consent to the endeavours
they were making to that purpose ; the business of
it was so great, by reason of the largeness of the
parish, that he was discouraged from accepting this
testimony of their kindness and respect towards him.
The choice of the subjects which he discoursed upon
at that place, and in that conjuncture of public af
fairs, were so very seasonable, that they had a vi
sible good effect upon the congregation, and made
such a deep impression, that they are remembered
by some persons even to this day. His design was
44 THE LIFE OF
1660. to convince the people of the necessity of a decent
behaviour in the house of God, as well as of the re
ligious observation of the Lord's day, which he ex
plained and pressed in several sermons, from Levit.
xix. 30. Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence
my sanctuary : I am the Lord. How proper such
applications were then to the people, we may collect
from the posture of affairs in which we then were ;
for the swarms of sectaries, which overran the nation
in the times of the great rebellion, had carried their
hypocrisy so high, that upon the restoration, some
men thought they could not recede too far from the
behaviour and practice of those persons, who had
made religion a cloak for so many villanies. This
was apt to expose men to the other extreme, and
inclined them to think every appearance of devotion
was puritanical. So that nothing could be more pro
per than to guard people's minds from the tempta
tions to which they were liable, and by proper argu
ments to enable them to resist what was urged
against some things that were serious and devout,
under the pretence of their being fanatical. For
though hypocrisy and profaneness will both prove
destructive to those who indulge them in their prac
tice ; yet barefaced irreligion is most pernicious to
the public.
1662. xil. In the year 1662, Mr. Bull was presented
He was pre
sented to to the vicarage of Suddington St. Peter, by the then
- lord chancellor the earl of Clarendon, at the request
' e* and application of his constant patron and worthy
diocesan, Dr. Nicholson, who was made bishop of
Gloucester upon the restoration, and who had all
that merit which was necessary to fill so great a sta-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 45
tion in the church to the best advantage, if his stea- 1662.
diness to her doctrines and discipline, in her most
afflicted state, had not made it also reasonable that
he should have had his share in her prosperity. This
vicarage, which was but mean in itself, (for the yearly
value did not amount to above 251.) yet was of
some advantage to Mr. Bull, because it lay conti
guous to the rectory of the same name, of which he
was then in possession; and it was equally conve
nient to the parishioners of both parishes to come to
either of the churches, in which he thought fit to
officiate ; so that he sometimes preached in one, and
sometimes in the other. The income of both these
livings together did not rise to above 100/. a year,
clear of taxes ; so that if there was not much addi
tion to his labour, there was also no great increase
of his revenue. But Mr. Bull had a farther prospect
in the enjoying these two livings, than the gratify
ing his own interest ; for by this means he purposed
to get them united for the future, and to have them
put under the same grant; which he thought would
very well answer the pains he took to compass it,
and might be a very good piece of service to the
church. For as they were not too large for one
man's care, both parishes not containing above thirty
families, so by this union it might be reasonably sup
posed, that a person might be expected better quali
fied for both when they were joined together, than
could be hoped for, when they were separated, for
either. But the great charge of consolidating these
two churches by act of parliament prevented the
success of his attempt ; though by the consent of the
bishop of the diocese, and the parishioners, they were
united into one congregation ; and he became thereby
46 THE LIFE OF
1662. go far a benefactor to his successor, that both livings
were granted to him at the same time, and it is pro
bable they will be granted together for the future.
When he first came to the rectory of Sudclington,
lie began to be more open in the use of the Liturgy
of the church of England ; and it was next to im
possible but that it should be liked and approved by
every one that heard him officiate : for he had a
most excellent talent in performing the whole ser
vice ; and he was to that degree perfect in it, that
I never yet heard him equalled by any one. His
whole deportment was grave and serious, and had
withal an air of that authority which belonged to
his function ; his pronunciation was distinct and au
dible, and yet natural and unaffected ; he went
through every part of the service with that particu
lar devotion that belongs to it. He read the holy
Scriptures with such leisure, and with such exact
ness, in observing the stops and points, that they
were much better understood by the people ; and
yet with that zeal and gravity as shewed the im
portance of the message which he delivered, and
fixed the attention of those that were to receive it.
He offered up all the prayers with great warmth
and intenseness of mind ; his very soul seemed to
invigorate every petition, and to give new life to
every prayer; which is certainly one good method
to kindle heavenly affections in the congregation.
With these advantages he reconciled the minds of
his parishioners to the Common Prayer, before the
use of it was publicly restored, by the return of
a couple king Charles the Second; of which he made a proof,
the form of when he was but newly established in his cure : for
Pray™!-0" being desired to marry a couple, he performed it on
DR. GEORGE BULL. 47
a Sunday morning, according to the form of the 1662.
Common Prayer Book, in the face of the congrega-
tion, where the most of his parishioners were as
sembled together for the religious observation of that
holy day. When he came out of the church, he in
quired of the people, how they liked that manner of
solemnizing matrimony; not concealing from them
how much it was in their power to expose him to a
malicious prosecution, and shewing at the same time
the confidence he placed in their kindness and affec
tion ; upon which they all expressed their unani
mous approbation of his performance ; declaring not
only their readiness to submit, but also their satis
faction in joining in those prayers which he used in
public, with solemn assurances, that they would not
only make no complaints of him themselves, but also
endeavour to prevent them from others.
It is possible, this devout and decent reading of Readingthe
the prayers of the church may be looked upon by voutfjTno6"
some as a mean and low attainment, and by others ^^^
as a burden and task to be imposed only upon those a'ldofsreat
1 , . advantage
that have not gifts for the pulpit. And indeed, if to the pe«-
pie.
we may have leave to guess at the thoughts of some
men by their actions, this must be the language of
their hearts; for either they seldom or never read
the prayers themselves, and so depreciate the worth
and excellency of them with the people ; as if that
administration were below the dignity of a parochial
priest ; or they provide persons of such ordinary and
unskilful elocution to officiate in their stead, as ap
parently tendeth to damp rather than raise the de
votion of the congregation. But experience suffi
ciently convinceth us, that this accomplishment is
not easily acquired, because we find there are but
48 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. few that excel this way ; and nothing ought to be
accounted mean, that is so instrumental in promot
ing devotion in the hearts and affections of men.
And if any one will attempt in earnest to make
himself master of this talent, he will find that it will
cost him much labour and pains before he can com
pass it ; for all are not equally blest by nature with
strength and sweetness of voice ; and yet they ought
not to be discouraged if they want those advantages,
because elocution is capable of great improvement
by study and constant practice. But after all, those
who cannot read as becometh the service of God,
ought to be rejected as unfit, upon that account, to
receive holy orders ; for though a man hath the un
derstanding of an angel, yet if he hath no voice, or,
at least, if it is so low, and so imperfect, that he can
not either convey his thoughts to the people, or offi
ciate to edification in the service of the church, so
far he is unqualified to be admitted into the sacred
function. What a dreadful account then will those
governors in the church have to give at the day of
judgment, who ordain such for deacons as by their
administrations quench the devotion of the people,
and provoke our adversaries to reproach us ; and by
their incapacity to read, make the Scripture a dead
letter, and the admirable Liturgy of the church a
contemptible performance !
His manner XIII. But though Mr. Bull thus excelled in dis-
ing, and the charging all the offices of the Liturgy, yet he did not
shine less in the pulpit, from whence he did for se
veral years instruct his parish twice every Lord's day.
The great end and design of his sermons (for I have
often heard him with great pleasure and edifica-
1
DR. GEORGE BULL. 49
tion*, was to acquaint his people with the know- 1662-9.
ledge of the holy Scriptures, which were able to~
make them wise unto salvation ; and therefore all
subjects which he handled were always strengthened
and confirmed by passages from holy writ, and those
passages explained and made easy to the capacity of
the meanest understanding, and such useful obser
vations drawn from them, as gave fresh light to his
subject, as well as to those texts he had quoted in
order to illustrate it. And indeed, he was every
way qualified for this proper employment of a Christ
ian preacher; for as he had a clear head and a
strong judgment, so he did with great accuracy un
derstand those learned languages, wherein the Bible
was originally wrote : he had taken no small pains
in his youth to make himself master of the Hebrew ;
for he did not content himself with a slight and su
perficial skill in a language, which he thought so
necessary for a divine ; and upon which he laid such
weight, that it was very usual with him to recom
mend the study of it to the candidates of divinity,
as a foundation for their future theological per
formances. And in his Harmonia Apostolica, which
was the very first book he published, he gave the
world a sufficient evidence of his knowledge of this
kind ; and not only of his acquaintance with the
Hebrew text, and the best critics thereupon, but
also of a much deeper insight into the Jewish learn
ing, by his familiarity with, and accurate judgment
concerning the customs and dogmata of that nation,
o o
from their best writers. By these means he was
[t While Bull was rector of Suddington, Nelson was living
with his mother at Dryfield, not far off, and received lessons from
Bull at his mother's house.]
E
50 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. a^e himself to make a judgment of the translations
~~ of the holy Scriptures ; and instead of an implicit
submission to the critics, was qualified to discover
their errors, as well as to admire their perfections;
which maketh it very advisable, that all those who
dedicate themselves to the service of the church,
should allow the Hebrew language a share in their
studies. To these helps were added a knowledge of
sacred history as well as profane, and an insight
into those customs, to which several parts of Scrip
ture frequently refer, and without the understand
ing of which it is often impossible to discern the
strength and beauty of what is delivered. But above
all, he was thoroughly acquainted with primitive
antiquity, and had with great care and observation
read the works of the fathers and ancient doctors,
from whence he was best able to learn the sense of
the catholic church upon all matters of consequence,
which is the best guide in interpreting those Scrip
tures which are not plain in themselves.
He only It was but seldom, and that upon some extraordi-
scheme^f narv occasions, that he composed his sermon entire,
his sermon. an(j committed it to writing; which is the reason
that he has left so few finished discourses behind
him. His usual method was, after the choice of his
text, to mark some words that were to be explained,
in order to give the true sense of that portion of
Scripture he had chose to treat upon ; and then he
writ down some observations, which flowed natu
rally from the subject, and under each observation
hints to illustrate it, and texts of Scripture proper
to be explained in order to give light to it ; and
then drew inferences from his whole discourse by
way of application. Thus he had only the scheme
DR. GEORGE BULL. 51
of his sermon before him in writing; and having in 1662-9.
this manner secured the substance of it, he did by ~
custom and practice bring himself to a great readi
ness and fluency in expressing himself upon all sub
jects; and if this manner of preaching wanted the
exactness of more studied composures, it had the
advantage of that popular style, which by good
judges hath been thought the fittest for the pulpit ;
from whence, if men design to influence and per
suade the generality of their hearers, they must con
descend to use more words than are necessary in a
strict sense; the same thing must be repeated often,
and turned after a different manner, and inculcated
with force, so that fresh and lasting impressions may
be made upon the audience. What Mr. Bull deli
vered of this kind never wanted a becoming fervour,
and he enlivened his discourses with proper and de
cent gestures; and his voice was always exerted
with some vehemency, whereby he kept the audi
ence awake, and raised their attention to what he
delivered, and persuaded the people that he was in
earnest, and affected himself with what he recom
mended to others. By these means he laboured
many years in teaching the ignorant, in confirming
the weak, in quieting the scrupulous, in softening
the hard heart, in rousing the sinner, and in raising
the pious soul to a steady and vigorous pursuit of
eternal happiness. And whatever he delivered, his
words were generally fixed in the minds of his
hearers, as they parted from his own full of warmth
and heat.
Mr. Bull was too sensible of the necessity and His care in
. . . catechising
advantage of catechising, to neglect an institution the youth,
which hath so direct a tendency to promote piety
E 2
52 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. and religion in the minds of men. The instructions
from the pulpit very often miscarry for want of lay
ing a good foundation in the first principles of reli
gion. and from not understanding the meaning of
those words and phrases which so frequently occur
in set and formed discourses; and it is a vain at
tempt to reform the world, without seasoning the
minds of the youth with that necessary knowledge
of the Christian mysteries, upon which all religious
practice must be built. He laboured therefore par
ticularly in this province, and did not content him
self barely to hear the youth repeat the words of
our excellent Catechism, but he expounded it to
them after a plain and familiar manner, whereby he
did not only sow the good seed of the word in young
and tender minds, but also enlightened those of riper
years, whom he encouraged and exhorted to be pre
sent at his catechetical performances, and who were
too much ashamed of their ignorance to overcome it
by any other methods. God was pleased so far to
bless his endeavours of this kind, that he carried
fifty persons well instructed in the principles of
Christian religion at one time to the visitation at
Cirencester, who were all confirmed by the bishop,
when his whole parish did not consist of above thirty
families.
Baptism He administered the sacraments of our holy reli-
gion with great reverence and solemnity: the holy
eucharist, the mysterious rite and perfection of
him. Christian worship, was not performed so often in
this parish as he earnestly desired ; and yet oftener
than is usual in little villages ; for he brought it to
seven times in a year. But whenever he officiated
at the altar, it was exactly agreeable to the direc-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 53
tions of the rubric, and with the gravity and serious- 1662-9.
ness of a primitive priest. He preserved the custom
of a collection for the poor, when the priest begins
the offertory, which I the rather mention, because
it is too much neglected in country villages. He
always placed the elements of bread and wine upon
the altar himself, after he had received them either
from the churchwarden or clerk, or had taken them
from some convenient place, where they were laid
for that purpose. His constant practice was to offer
them upon the holy table, in the first place, in con
formity to the practice of the ancient church, before
he began the communion service; and this the ru
bric, after the offertory, seemeth to require of all her
priests, by declaring, that " when there is a commu-
" nion, the priest shall then place upon the table so
" much bread and wine as he shall think sufficient.''
He was always very unwilling to administer baptism
in private houses, except in cases of necessity, when
the church for a greater good thinketh fit to dis
pense with her own laws. And therefore he not
only admonished parents to bring their children to
receive public baptism ; but, according to the advice
laid down in the rubric, that the performance might
be more solemn, he desired it might be on Sundays
or other holy-days, when the greatest number of
people were met together ; that the congregation
might testify the receiving of them that are newly
baptized into the number of Christ's church ; and
that every man present in the baptism of infants
might be put in remembrance of his own profession
made to God in that sacrament. He urged this
with the greater importunity upon his parishioners,
that the infant to be baptized might thereby have
54 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. the benefit of the united prayers of a full Christian
congregation, which he thought were much to be
valued. An argument which could not fail to have
a great influence upon parents, who seldom want
great tenderness and affection for their children ;
though sometimes they are not well instructed how
to exercise it.
Hisohser- It is provided by the rubric, after the saying the
vation of * *
the holy- JNicene Creed on Sundays, that "the curate shall
church/ ie " declare unto the people what holy-days or fasting-
" days are in the week following to be observed :"
and this direction is enforced by the sixty-fourth
canon of the Ecclesiastical Constitutions, made by
the Convocation in 1 603. Now Mr. Bull did not
satisfy himself only with giving this notice to his
parishioners, which he could not well omit without
neglecting his duty, but he led them to the observa
tion of such holy institutions by his own example.
For he had so far a regard to these holy-days, as to
cause all his family to repair to the church at such
times ; and on the days of fasting arid abstinence, the
necessary refreshments of life were adjourned from
the usual hour till towards the evening. He was
too well acquainted with the practice of the primi
tive Christians, to neglect such observances as they
made instrumental to piety and devotion, and had
too great a value for the injunctions of his mother
the church of England, to disobey where she re
quired a compliance ; but, above all, he was too
intent upon making advances in the Christian life,
to omit a duty all along observed by devout men,
and acceptable to God under the Old and New
Testament, both as it was helpful to their devotion,
and became a part of it. I must not here forget to
DR. GEORGE BULL. 55
take notice of the particular regard he always paid 1662-9.
to Good Friday, called by the ancient fathers, tlic~
chief and greatest of days, the mistress of all solemni
ties, the holy and adorable day of our Lord's sal titan/
passion. It is very difficult in country villages to
prevail on people to attend the public worship upon
any week-day, by reason of that constant applica
tion wherewith they follow their worldly affairs ;
but in order to persuade his parishioners to a strict
observation of this great Christian fast, he always
had a sermon besides the service of the church
to bring them together, and as long as he was able,
he was no less constant in preaching it himself-
The sense of our Saviour's sufferings was on such
occasions warm upon his mind, and he never failed
at such times to work upon the tender passions of
his hearers, since it was the sins of mankind that
drew upon the blessed Jesus the painful and shame
ful death of the cross. And what preacher would
neglect so favourable an opportunity to advance the
love of his dear Redeemer in the minds of men, by
a lively representation of those inexpressible sorrows,
which he suffered in his last bitter passion for the
salvation of souls ?
XIV. If we follow Mr. Bull from the perform- The reii-
1 • f •! 1 gil'US gO-
ance of his pastoral duties into his own family, and vemment
consider him as the master that governs it, we shall JJJ.J? fa"
still find him acted by principles of true piety ; and
indeed, as the apostle observeth, If a man know not
how to rule his own house, how shall he take care of
the church of God f If he hath not a true concern
for the souls of his wife and children and servants,
and doth not make use of all favourable opportunities
56 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. ^° instil the fear of God into their minds; how is it
~~ possible he should have zeal enough to set forward
the salvation of others, where the obligations are
less, and the endearments weaker ? But in this
particular, as well as in many others, Mr. Bull ap
proved himself to be a workman that needeth not to
be ashamed, for he exercised a pious care in training
up those under his charge in the worship and service
of God. Every morning and every evening the family
were called together to offer up their prayers to
their great Creator and Preserver. This is a duty
certainly incumbent upon all masters of families,
because it tendeth so very much to the glory of
God, and the welfare of those under their govern
ment ; but more particularly belongeth to a clergy
man from the nature of his function, so that if he
neglecteth this morning and evening sacrifice, it is a
shrewd sign, that his mind hath but a small tincture
of true religion, and that he hath no great regard to
his own function.
Upon these occasions Mr. Bull did not give him
self the liberty of using prayers of his own com
posing, though he was very well qualified for what
is called extempore prayer, if he would have ven
tured upon such a presumptuous undertaking in
public, for he had great quickness of thought, and
could express the desires of his soul in a very decent
and affecting manner ; but he esteemed the praying
by a form the safest and best method to secure
devotion. Those he used were either composed
by bishop Taylor, or, of late years, were taken out
of The Common Prayer Book the best Companion,
and on Wednesdays and Fridays the Litany office.
A portion of Scripture was read at the same time ;
DR. GEORGE BULL. 57
and when the nature of the subject or the difficulty 1662-9.
of the place required it, he would expound several
passages as they were read ; and very often, after
prayers were ended, before the family was dismissed,
he would make some remarks upon them. A me
thod very edifying, and tending to the improvement
of those under his care, which by degrees must enter
them into the true sense of the holy Scripture, and
give them a right taste and relish for those inspired
writings. Upon Sunday evenings there was the ad
dition of a chapter out of that excellent book, The
whole Duty of Man, than which we have none more
fit for general and constant use ; and this was for
the farther instruction of his family, particularly of
those who had been deprived of going to church, by
reason of the necessary services of the house.
His conjugal affection discovered itself not so
much in fond words and expressions, as in perform
ing all those substantial duties to which the vow of
matrimony obligeth ; in conjugal chastity, and in his
tender care of his wife in times of sickness, upon
which occasions he never failed to express the deep
est concern, and spared no expense to procure her
recovery. His paternal love displayed itself in the
religious education of his children : he took care to
train them up in the ways of piety and virtue, and
brought them into an early acquaintance with the
principles of Christianity ; and did not neglect that
correction of then? which his nature was averse to,
but which his reason and judgment obliged him to
comply with, as necessary to secure their education.
And therefore when he did not spare the rod for the
good of his child, he was sure to suffer more pain
than what he inflicted. Besides, he bestowed no
58 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. small pains upon the instruction of his son, Mr.
George Bull, who had few equals for his piety and
learning, (of whom we shall have a sorrowful occa
sion to speak hereafter,) though he had little or no
teaching before he went to the university, but what
he received from his father. And though his wife
and children were his principal concern, yet his ser
vants were not neglected, for they were part of his
charge, and therefore he expected to be accountable
to God for them. If any in that rank could not
read, he would assign one of the family to be their
teacher, with orders to instruct them in the prin
ciples of religion ; whereby great good was done to
both, since there is a reward prepared for the cha
rity of the teacher, as well as for the improvements
of the disciple. The neglect of any of his own
affairs by his servants never provoked him so much
as their absence from prayers in the family ; and
nothing but absolute necessity was admitted as a
justifiable excuse.
His private ]3ut the better to judge of the character of his de-
tlevotions.
votion, we must enter with him into his closet, and
observe the frame of his mind in the common and
ordinary occurrences of life. There is great reason
to believe, that he was very frequent in his private
prayers ; and by his rising early and going to bed
late, he secured retirement sufficient for that pur
pose. Besides, they who Jay near his study, made
discoveries of that nature from the warmth and fer
vour and importunity used in his spiritual exercises,
when he thought all the family safe at rest ; and the
way he took sometimes to express the pious and
devout affections of his mind by singing of psalms,
made it more difficult to be concealed. It is true
DR. GEORGE BULL. 59
indeed, that he hath left no compositions of this kind 1662-9.
behind him, which maketh it reasonable to suppose,
fcbat in his closet he gave the desires of his soul a
freer vent, and that when he conversed with God
alone, he presented him with the natural language
of the heart, which He chiefly regards ; and how well
he was fitted and qualified to perform this after an
excellent manner, hath been already declared. And
after all, he had so lively a sense of his own inability
to discharge the important duties of his holy func
tion, and so great a zeal to promote the salvation of
those souls which were committed to his charge,
that it is not to be wondered if he was very earnest
with God in private for the continual supplies of his
grace to strengthen and invigorate his best endea
vours, and that all his flock might be filled with the
knowledge of God's will in all wisdom and spiritual
understanding, that they might walk worthy of the
Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good
work, and increasing in the knowledge of God. It
is a true observation of that judicious prelate, bishop
Sanderson, ""That the kingdom of God must suffer
" violence, and that the people will not ordinarily
" be brought into it without some force : but let me
" tell you," saith that great divine, " it is not so
" much the violence of the pulpit that doth the deed,
" as the violence of the closet." For though Paid
planteth, and Apollos watereth, it is God that giceth
the increase. So that in order to make the spiritual
building perfect, the wise pastor must be as instant
with God to secure his flock, as he is importunate
with them to work out their own salvation ; he must
without ceasing pray for them as well as instruct
w Vol. Serm. fol. p. 464.
60 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. them, whereby his labours will bring more comfort to
himself, as well as more profit to his hearers.
The pious The constant frame and temper of his mind was
frame and
temper of so truly devout, that he would frequently in the
daytime, as occasion offered, use short prayers and
ejaculations, the natural breathings of pious souls;
and when he was sitting in silence in his family, and
they, as he thought, intent upon other matters, he
would often, with an inexpressible air of great se
riousness, lift up his hands and eyes to heaven, and
sometimes drop tears. And as a farther evidence of
this true Christian frame of spirit, he took great de
light in discoursing of the things of God, particularly
of His love and mercy in the daily instances of
His watchful providence over mankind, and the
right use that ought to be made of it. He would
often recount to those he conversed with, the won
ders of divine goodness already vouchsafed to him
self and his friends ; their happy and amazing escapes
out of several sorts of dangers, their unexpected
good success, not without rejoicing in the Lord ; and
invite others to tell what God had done for them ;
of which he would make a noble use by way of
religious inference and exhortation, till he made
the hearts of his hearers burn within them. And
indeed they who can pass all the hours of their
conversation, which take up so great a part of their
lives, without making any reflections of this nature,
for fear of the lash of some scoffing wits, who are apt
to call it canting, appear to me to want that sense
of a Deity upon their minds, which is necessary to
make them serious. I am sure, in all other cases,
where our heads and hearts are engaged, we natu
rally discover it by our tongues; for out of the abun-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 61
dance of the heart the mouth speaketh ; and it is 1662-9.
difficult not to run into such discourse as is ready
prepared for us by the constant application of our
thoughts. And therefore I think we may safely
conclude, that whoever maketh religion his main
business, and loveth God above all, cannot be better
entertained in conversation than by such topics,
which tend to cultivate and promote piety, and
every thing that is praiseworthy ; neither will such
an one readily omit any reasonable occasion that
offers itself to advance and instil the sense of religion
into the minds of others.
Before I quit this head of his private devotions, I His singing
of psalms in
must beg leave to observe, that singing the praises his private
of God made a part of his spiritual exercises in his
retirement, which he chose to celebrate in the words
of the royal Psalmist, as translated into metre for
that purpose. A duty recommended by St. Paul in
several of his Epistles ; and yet how few can be
prevailed upon to join in psalmody, when it is made
a part of the public service of the church ! And still
there are fewer who perform it with that intenseness
of mind, and application of thought, and reverence
of posture, as such a solemn part of worship re-
quireth from us ; where the great Majesty of heaven
and earth is the object we address to, and where
the acknowledgment of His infinite perfections, and
thankfulness for the mercies we receive, is the wor
ship we design to pay. It is very fit indeed, that
this part of the public service should have all the
advantage imaginable of agreeable harmony, con
sisting both in voices and musical instruments, be
cause we ought to offer to God that which is most
excellent in its kind. But however it must be re-
62 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. membered, that these are only to be used as helps to
raise our souls to a higher pitch of devotion, and are
of no value in the sight of God, any farther than
they express the gratitude of our hearts ; for if we
permit ourselves to dwell too much upon the skill of
the performance, and suffer our minds by the plea
sure of the ear to be carried away from a serious
attention to the matter, the religious worship of it
will begin to sink ; and though there may be melody
in the composition, yet by this means there will be
none in the heart, which God chiefly regards. But
the generality of those who do not join in the sing
ing of psalms, and who are otherwise very serious,
excuse themselves from the bad poetry of the old
version, wherein there are several old words used
which are now out of date, and several odd phrases
that give them great offence. Now though this ob
jection doth affect only some parts of the version, if
it should be allowed to have its full weight, yet cer
tainly it is no great argument of a devout mind, to
be diverted by little things from a duty substantially
good in itself.
But notwithstanding these objections, the excel-
the old ver- lent bishop Beveridgc hath defended the old version
ed°by bishop ^n a particular x discourse upon that subject; and
Bevendge. after having impartially weighed it and compared it
with the new, giveth it by much the preference ; as
keeping closer to the sense of the original text, and
by being composed in a plain and low style, lying
more level to the capacities of the common people,
x A Defence of the Book of Psalms, collected into English
metre by Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins, and others, with
critical Observations on the New Version compared with the Old.
Printed for R. Smith, 1710.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 63
who are far the greatest part of the kingdom. That 1662-9.
as to the old words, they are few, and easily ex-
plained, and purely English ; whereas the style of
the new version is much more unintelligible to the
vulgar, by a great mixture of words derived from the
Latin, French, and Greek, and often rather a para
phrase upon the text, than the text itself. And I wish
the authority of this great man may prevail as much
now he is dead, as his example did while he was
alive, in this matter which we are now considering ;
for I have with pleasure beheld the conformity of
the whole congregation to his own devout practice,
who constantly stood with reverence while he sung
the praises of God ; and when he went into the pul
pit, he neither altered his posture, nor forbore to join
with the congregation till the psalm was finished.
And now I have named this great and good man, Thecharac-
I cannot forbear acknowledging the favourable dis- ^mo"*',
pensation of Providence to the age in which we live,
in blessing it with so many of those pious discourses,
which this truly primitive prelate delivered from the
pulpit ; and I the rather take the liberty to call it
a favourable dispensation of Providence, because he
gave no orders himself that they should be printed ;
but humbly neglected them, as not being composed
for the press. But this circumstance is so far from
abating the worth of the sermons, or diminishing
the character of the author, that to me it seemeth
to raise the excellency of both ; because it sheweth
at once the true nature of a popular discourse, and
the great talent this prelate had that way. For to
improve the generality of hearers, they must be
taught all the mysteries of Christianity, and the
holy institutions belonging to it ; since it is upon
64 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. this true foundation that the practice of Christian
virtues must be built, to make them acceptable in
the sight of God. And then all this must be de
livered to the people in so plain and intelligible a
style, that they may easily comprehend it ; and it
must be addressed to them in so affecting and mov
ing a manner, that their passions may be winged to
a vigorous prosecution of what is taught. If I mis
take not, the sermons of this learned bishop answer
this character; and I am confirmed in this opinion
by the judgment of those who are allowed to have
the greatest talents for the pulpit, as well as for all
other parts of learning. He had a way of gaining
people's hearts, and touching their consciences, which
bore some resemblance to the apostolical age ; and
when it shall appear that those bright preachers,
who have been ready to throw contempt upon his
lordship's performances, can set forth as large a list
of persons whom they have converted by their
preaching, as I could produce of those who owed
the change of their lives, under God, to the Christ
ian instructions of this pious prelate, I shall readily
own that they are superior to his lordship in the
pulpit. Though, considering what learned works he
published in the cause of religion, and what an emi
nent pattern he was of true primitive piety, I am
not inclined to think that his lordship will, upon
the whole of his character, be easily equalled by any
one. But to proceed.
Mr. Bull's XV. In the governing this parish of Suddington,
Mr. Bull observed the same method which he had
this parish. prescribe(] to himself in that of St. George's near
Bristol, which hath been already mentioned. And
DR. GEORGE BULL. 65
certainly nothing could better answer the end and 1662-9.
design of his function, than a constant watch over~
the conduct of his flock ; that the seed he sowed in
such plenty might not be scattered by the winds of
violent temptations, nor be destroyed by the evil
one, who goeth about seeking whom he may devour.
This personal acquaintance of a minister with his
parishioners will give him a great advantage in for
warding their spiritual welfare, provided it is chiefly
employed to that purpose. For besides that profit
which redoundeth to them from the thing itself, this
tender and compassionate regard towards the people
will create in them a great love for his person,
and a cheerful attendance upon his ministry, which
are admirable dispositions to prepare the mind for
instruction. And I think no man ought to be
deterred from attempting this, because some incon
siderate minds censure it as an affectation of popu
larity; for to endeavour to procure the love and
good-will of the parishioners, is so far from being
a fault in a parish priest, that I look upon it as
his duty, it being the likeliest means to make his
labours among them effectual. All the mischief of
popularity is, when men betray their consciences
rather than displease men. and sacrifice their duty
to the breath of the people ; when, by mean and
unworthy arts, they court that applause which is only
due to merit ; and rather than forfeit the favour of
the lord of a manor, comply with him in his follies,
and yield to his sacrilegious encroachments. But
there is no danger that a clergyman, who under-
standeth the weight of his employment, and hath a
zeal for the salvation of souls, will ever vouchsafe to
be popular upon such terms.
66 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. But to excite all the parochial clergy to this
watchfulness over the conduct of their flock; they
have a pattern of it in the High Priest of our
profession, the blessed Jesus, who with particular
assiduity applied himself to form and preserve those
disciples which his Father had committed to his
care. He lived among them, supporting all their
weakness, and compassionating their infirmities ; he
instructed them in public and in private, and hid no
truth from them which might be profitable for them,
and which they were able to bear. He hardly suf
fered them out of his sight, but when he retired
into some solitude, and then he remembered them
in his prayers. This love and care of his disciples
appeared not only in those his addresses to Heaven,
which preceded his passion, but when he was de
livered into the hands of his enemies, he seemed to
forget himself in respect of them, If you seek me,
saith he, let these go their way ; as if he had been
concerned for nothing so much as the preservation
of his disciples : notwithstanding his bonds, and the
violence of his persecutors, he did not forget his
chief apostle, but reached forth his hand to raise
him from his unhappy fall, fulfilling to the last those
words of Scripture, Having loved his own, he loved
them unto the end.
Heconfirms While Mr. Bull was rector of Suddington, the pro-
two ladies r,
that were vidence of God gave him an opportunity of fixing
their reii- two ladies^ of quality, in that neighbourhood, in the
protestant communion ; who had been reduced to a
very wavering state of mind, by the arts and sub-
y [One of them was the countess of Newburgh. See the pre
face to the Vindication of the Church of England ]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 67
tleties of some Romish missionaries. Their specious 1662-9.
pretences to antiquity were easily detected by this ~
great master of the ancient Fathers; and by his
thorough acquaintance with Scripture, and the sense
of the catholic church, in matters of the greatest im
portance, he was able to distinguish between primi
tive truths, and those errors which the church of
Rome built upon them. He had frequent con
ferences with both these ladies, and answered those
objections which appeared to them to have the
greatest strength, and by which they were very near
falling from their steadfastness : for one of them he
writ a small treatise, which she had requested from
him, but no copy of it is to be found among those
papers he left behind him ; nothing remaineth of it
but the remembrance that it was written, and that
he did thereby succeed in establishing the lady in
the communion of the church of England z. Both
the ladies always owned with the greatest sense of
gratitude this signal service they received from the
learning and capacity of Mr. Bull. None can well
apprehend how grievous a state of human life doubt
is, in matters of consequence, but they who feel it ;
and therefore no wonder if they blessed that happy
instrument, by which fresh light was conveyed into
their minds, and those uncertainties cleared up which
they laboured under in reference to matters of the
greatest moment a. The method indeed they took
z [This treatise was afterwards discovered, and published by
the bishop's son, Robert Bull, with the title of A Vindication of
the Church of England. It was written in 1671.]
a [It is singular that Nelson's own wife was converted to the
Romish faith by Bossuet : she was the lady Theophila Lucy,
widow of sir Kingsmill L. bart. and second daughter of George
F 2
68 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. was prudent and Christian, to seek for knowledge
~~ at those lips which are appointed to preserve it, and
to bring their doubts to their own pastors before
they submit to the authority of others. And I
question not but for this reason, among many, God
thought fit to give them the satisfaction they sought
for ; and if others, who are assaulted after this man
ner, would take the same course, I doubt not but
that they would find the same success.
Aridicu- The only dissenters he had in this parish were
ofaQuZ Quakers, who resisted all the endeavours he made
len 'gChal" to bring them into the church, for they were as ob
stinate as they were ignorant : who by their imper
tinent and extravagant manner caused him often no
small uneasiness. And of this number was one who
was a preacher among them, who would frequently
accost Mr. Bull ; and once more particularly said he,
" George, as for human learning I set no value upon
" it ; but if thou wilt talk Scripture, have at thee."
Upon which Mr. Bull, willing to correct his confi
dence, and to shew him how unable he was to sup
port his pretensions, answered him, " Come on then,
" friend." So opening the Bible, which lay before
them, he fell upon the Book of Proverbs ; " Seest
" thou, friend," said he, " Solomon saith in one
place, "Answer a fool according to his folly ; and in
" another place, Answer not a fool according to his
"folly ; how dost thou reconcile these two texts of
" Scripture?" "Why," said the preacher, "Solomon
" don't say so ;" to which Mr. Bull replied, " Aye,
" but he doth." And turning to the places he soon
earl of Berkele: she died in the Romish communion, A. D.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 69
convinced him ; upon which the Quaker hereat be- 1662-9.
ing much out of countenance, said, " Why then ~
" Solomon's a fool;" which ended the controversy11.
b [This person may possibly have been John Roberts, who
was also sometimes called Hayward, a man of considerable note
among the Quakers. He lived at Siddington during the time
that Bull was vicar, and had meetings at his house, as appears
from the life of him, written by his son Daniel Roberts in 1725,
and republished in 1786. This book furnishes us with some
anecdotes connected with Bull, which do not set him in a very
amiable light : but it must be remembered, that they are re
ported by a man who felt himself aggrieved in the person of his
father, and who writing after the lapse of several years could
hardly have recollected minute conversations ; though he says, that
he was " careful to pen them down in the same words they were
" then expressed in." I shall therefore give extracts from this
book without making any farther remark as to the credit which
is due to them.
Not long after 1665, Roberts was put into prison for taking
part with three of his friends, who were accused of interrupting
the service of the church. It is not stated that this happened at
Siddington ; but it seems probable ; and we are told, that " these
" standing in the steeple-house with their hats on, though they
" said nothing, the priest was silent : and being asked, If he was
" not well? he answered, He could not go forward while those
" dumb dogs stood there. Whereupon the people dragged them
" out: and the priest afterwards informing a justice that they
" interrupted him in divine service, they were bound over to the
" quarter sessions." p. 9. If this happened at Siddington, the
priest was probably Bull.
In the next anecdote Bull is mentioned by name. " He was
" afterwards cast into prison at Cirencester by George Bull, vicar
" of Upper Siddington, for tithes : where was confined at the
" same time, upon the same account, Elizabeth Hewlings, a
" widow of Amney, near Cirencester. She was a good Christian,
" and so good a midwife, that her confinement was a loss to that
" side of the country ; insomuch that lady Dunch, of Down-Am-
" ney, thought it would be an act of charity to the neighbour-
70 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. As Mr. Bull was intent upon the spiritual welfare
His charity of his parishioners, by performing the part of a dili-
to the poor
and indi
gent. " hood to purchase her liberty, by paying the priest's demand,
" which she did." p. 16. In a conversation which she afterwards
had with Roberts, she asked him the reason of his being in prison ;
to which he replied, " Because for conscience- sake I can't pay an
" hireling priest what he demands of me : therefore he, like the
" false prophets of old, prepares war against me, because I can-
" not put into his mouth." p. 18. After some more questions
and answers, she told her servant to go to the priest's attorney, and
tell him she would satisfy him. J. Roberts. " If thou art a charit-
" able woman, as I take thee to be, there are abroad in the
" world many real objects of charity on whom to bestow thy
" bounty : but to feed such devourers as these I don't think to be
" charity. They are like Pharaoh's lean kine ; they eat up the
" fat and the goodly, and look not a whit the better." p. 19.
The last sentence confirms what Nelson tells us, that Bull " in
" his younger years was thin and pale." When this conversation
happened he was between thirty and forty years of age.
Sometime after this, Roberts was summoned before the bishop
of Gloucester (Nicholson) for not going to church ; and when he
expressed a desire to see his accusers, the bishop told him, that it
was the minister and churchwardens; (p. 31.) which agrees with
what Nelson says, that Bull tried all in his power to bring the
Quakers to church.
In another conversation with the same bishop, the expressions
which he used concerning Bull were extremely abusive. Speak
ing of a former vicar of Siddington, he says, " I was bred up
" under a common prayer-priest, and a poor drunken old man
" he was: sometimes he was so drunk he could not say his
" prayers, and at best he could but say them ; though I think he
" was by far a better man than he that is priest there now."
Bishop. " Who is your minister now ?" J. Roberts. " My min-
" ister is Christ Jesus, the Minister of the everlasting covenant :
" but the present priest of the parish is George Bull." Bishop.
" Do you say that drunken old man was better than Mr. Bull ?
" I tell you, I account Mr. Bull as sound, able, and orthodox a
" divine, as any we have among us." J. Roberts, " I am sorry
" for that ; for if he be one of the best of you, I believe the Lord
DR. GEORGE BULL. 71
gent and pious pastor among them ; so he was not 1662-9.
less concerned to relieve their temporal wants when
" will not suffer you long : for he is a proud, ambitious, ungodly
" man ; he hath often sued me at law, and brought his servants
" to swear against me wrongfully. His servants themselves
" have confessed to my servants, that I might have their ears ;
" for their master made them drunk, and then told them they
" were set down in the list as witnesses against me, and they
" must swear to it ; and so they did, and brought treble damages.
" They likewise owned they took tithes from my servant, thresh-
" ed them out, and sold them for their master. They have also
" several times took my cattle out of my grounds, drove them to
•' fairs and markets, and sold them, without giving me any ac-
" count." Bishop. " I do assure you I will inform Mr. Bull of
" what you say." J. Roberts. " Very well : and if thou pleasest
" to send for me to face him, I shall make much more appear to
" his face, than I'll say behind his back." p. 42, 43.
" Some time after this, the bishop and the chancellor in their
" coaches, and about twenty clergymen on horseback," stopped
at Roberts' house on their way to the visitation at Tedbury. p. 49.
One of these clergymen was Bull, as appears by the following
story : for after the bishop and some others had drunk of the ale
which Mrs. Roberts offered them, we read, " My father then
" offering the cup to priest Bull, he refused it, saying, It is full
" of hops and heresy. To which my father replied ; As for hops
" I cannot say much, not being at the brewing of it ; but as for
" heresy, I do assure thee, neighbour Bull, there is none in my
" beer ; and if thou pleasest to drink, thou art welcome ; but if
" not, I desire thee to take notice, as good as thou will, and
" those who are as well able to judge of heresy." p. 52. Before
they parted, the bishop said, " I want some more discourse with
" you. Will you go with me to Mr. Bull's ?" J. Roberts.
" Thou knowest he hath no good- will for me. I had rather
" attend on thee elsewhere." Bishop. " Will you come to-mor-
" row to Tedbury?" J. Roberts. "Yes, if thou desirest it."
Bishop. " Well I do. The bishop then took his leave, and went
" not to George Bull's; at which he was very much offended."
P- 53. 54-
Roberts went to Tedbury, while the bishop was there, and
72 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. the necessities of the poor required his assistance.
He had not the least tincture of covetousness in his
temper ; hospitable he was to all his neighbours, and
they never wanted relief who were known to him to
stand in need of it. When he visited any poor sick
being asked by him, " Will you promise to go to your own parish
" church to hear divine service ?" he answered, " I can promise
" no such thing. The last time I was there, I was moved and
" required of the Lord, whom I serve, to bear my testimony
" against a hireling priest, who was preaching for hire, and divin-
" ing for money : and he was angry with me, and caused the
" people to turn me out. And I don't intend to trouble him
" again till he learn more civility, except the Lord require it of
" me." p. 55, 56. In this same conversation the bishop told
Robei'ts, that he had heard Mr. Bull say strange things of him,
that he could tell where to find any thing which was lost, as well
as any cunning man. p. 60. Roberts related to the bishop the
circumstances of each of these stories ; and it must be acknow
ledged that he divested them of every appearance of the marvel
lous, and added, " though this is no more than a common acci-
" dent, I find George Bull hath endeavoured to improve it to my
" disadvantage." p. 63. After the explanation of another story,
which the bishop had heard from Bull, he said to Roberts, " I
" wanted to hear these stories from your own mouth ; though I
" did not, nor should have credited them in the sense Mr. Bull
" related them : but I believe you, John." p. 65.
This conversation happened not long before 1671, when the
bishop died. Some time after this, Roberts was again imprisoned
in Gloucester gaol, and the charge seems to have been the same
as before, that he held conventicles in his house instead of going
to church, p. 80. He died in 1683, two years before Bull left
Siddington.
It is singular, that there was a kind of connexion by marriage
between Roberts and Bull's son George. Nelson informs us, that
the latter married a granddaughter of sir Matthew Hale : and,
in the Life before alluded to, we find that Roberts married Lydia
Tindal, and that Matthew Hale, afterwards lord chief justice of
England, was her kinsman, p. 6.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 73
family, his prayers and his alms went ever together 1662-9
upon those occasions. He would send largely to
poor housekeepers in the time of their distress, when
they were visited with sickness, or had sustained
any great loss. But the widows and orphans of
clergymen, who were unprovided for, were the con
stant objects of his care arid concern ; he usually
gave liberally himself, and was very active in pro
curing charities from the gentry in the neighbour
hood upon such occasions ; and his character was so
valued among persons of the best figure, that he
seldom solicited the cause of the poor, but they
found the benefit of such an advocate. His particu
lar method in doing good for a great part of his
time consisted in keeping poor children at school ;
he was very sensible of the advantages which attend
that sort of charity ; so that where the parents were
poor, he became a father to their children in the care
of such an education, which was not only of use to
them in the world, but very instrumental in pro
moting their eternal salvation.
His usual discourse upon this subject was, that His send-
when we give to the poor, we do good to ourselves; R
not so much because God is sometimes pleased to
bless our charity with an increase of our earthly
substance, as because they who abound in good
works acquire an interest in the prayers and bene
dictions of the poor, which he was persuaded did
prevent them from falling into many dangers in this
life, and were of mighty prevalence with God,
through the merits of Christ, toward their eternal
salvation and admission into his heavenly kingdom.
He would strengthen the first part of his proposition
with the authority of St. Jerome, from the following
74 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. passage c ; "I do not remember," saith he, "that I ever
" read, that any one who abounded in acts of charity,
" and was glad to distribute, died an evil death or
" came to a bad end ; for such a man hath many
" intercessors, and it is impossible that the prayers
" of many should not be granted." The latter part
he grounded upon the words of our Saviour, And I
say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the
mammon of unrighteousness, that when ye fail,
they may receive you into everlasting habitations,
Luke xvi. 9, which he interpreted after this manner :
" By the riches bestowed in almsgiving make the
" poor your friends, that when you fail, i. e. die,
" they, the poor which you have made your friends,
" may receive you into everlasting habitations ; that
" is, that God, looking upon the almsdeeds you
" have done, and hearing the prayers and blessings
" of the poor, may reward you with eternal life, ac-
" cording to his promise." He would be very angry
with those people who pleaded Scripture for stinting
their charity, abusing that sacred text, 1 Tim. v. 8,
But if any provide not for his own, especially those
of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is
worse than an infidel. The occasion of which
words, he would say, was this, viz., " There was a
" bank of charitable collections in the house of the
" bishop, out of which the apostle appointed the
" poor widows to be relieved, when he saith, Ho-
" nour widows, that are widows indeed ; ver. 3.
" that is, relieve and maintain them ; but he would
c Non memini me legisse mala morte mortuum qui libenter
opera charitatis exercuit ; habet enim multos intercessores, et
impossibile est multorum preces non exaudiri.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 75
" not have them cast upon the charity of the church, 1662-9.
" if they had relations of their own, who were able ~
" to maintain them, ver. 4, and saith, that those who
" neglected so to do were worse than infidels. So
" that he would say, this text made against covetous
" people, who were most apt to neglect their poor
" relations : that it did require charity to poor rela-
" tions, but gave no manner of countenance to those
" miserable worldlings, who did covet and keep all
" to themselves, in order to enrich and raise their
" families."
XVI. I cannot find that after he entered into holy His only
, ,. , diversion,
orders, he was ever addicted to any innocent plea- agreeable
sure, which is often necessary to unbend the mind, ™0™er
and to preserve the body in health and vigour. If
there was any thing that looked like a diversion, it
was the enjoyment of agreeable conversation ; the
best that neighbourhood afforded, he was always
master of, because he was a welcome guest wherever
he made any visits. But what he chiefly loved, was,
to receive learned and good men at his own house,
especially those of his own profession ; and they
could never entertain him better than by supporting
the conversation with inquiries into subjects of divi
nity, or of any other part of learning. For the com
pass of his knowledge was so extensive, especially
in all parts of theology, that he never seemed to be
surprised with any question of that nature ; but
could immediately, and upon the spot, without the
least hesitation, give a pertinent and a full answer
to it. His notions were so distinct and clear, that
he could bring down the sublimest truths to ordinary
capacities, and set the most abstruse points in so
76 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. good a light, that you might easily and at once see
~ through them. Some learned men, who have been
very eminent for their improvements in all sorts of
knowledge, have nevertheless conversed with so
much reserve, that they have seemed to grudge the
world the least fruit of their labours : but Mr. Bull
better understood the use he was obliged to make of
those talents which God had committed to his trust ;
and he did gladly communicate his thoughts to all
those who had the happiness to converse with him ;
for where he could not learn, he delighted to make
others wiser and better ; and he was always ready
to give light to any obscure passage of Scripture, to
confirm any point of faith, and to represent any
truth of the Christian religion to the best advantage.
And what farther enabled him to shine in conversa
tion, was, his extraordinary candour and modesty,
whereby he never provoked those to expose their
imperfections who desired information from him,
but took the first opportunity to remove their igno
rance, without seeming to take notice of it.
He prose- To say the truth, Mr. Bull's chief delight was in
studieswith n^s books, and his study was the scene of his most
great appii- exquisite pleasure ; and he would freely own, with
great assurance, that he tasted the most refined satis
faction in the pursuit of knowledge, that the present
state of human nature was capable of ; and that
when his thoughts were lively and lucky in his
compositions, he found no reason to envy the enjoy
ment of the most voluptuous epicure. His course
indeed of study proved prejudicial to his health, be
cause he dedicated the greatest part of the night to
that purpose for many years together, and contented
himself with little sleep, rising early and going to
com-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 77
bed late. But no extraordinary attainments are 1662-9.
acquired without labour and pains ; and the reason ~"
why he chose these hours for that purpose, was, be
cause he secured thereby, what he could not other
wise promise himself, an entire freedom from noise
and disturbance, and from all the interruptions of
business and company. It is to this constant appli
cation of mind that we owe those learned and judi
cious treatises which Mr. Bull published in his life
time ; for during the twenty-seven years he was
rector of Suddington, he composed most of them ;
as well as those sermons and discourses which are
now offered to the consideration of the public.
It is to be lamented, indeed, that some part of his Several
labour is perished, and that several smaller tracts Po^d by
which cost him much pains are entirely lost. It was hnn' lost"
too usual with him, from a modest opinion of his
own performances, when he had finished a work of
consequence, to be negligent in the preservation of
it ; and if he lent it out to be perused by a neigh
bour, he seldom remembered to call upon him to re
turn it, if the borrower neglected to bring it back.
It is thought that several sermons that were finished
by him, are lost after this manner. There was a
short treatise, the loss of which the Christian reader,
who hath a veneration for primitive antiquity, will
very much regret, and which was composed by
Mr. Bull, in answer to this question, viz., What
was the posture of communicating in the blessed sa
crament, before the doctrine of transubstantiation was
received in the church ? In his reply, he proved from
antiquity, that the practice in the most ancient
times was for the communicants to draw near to
the bema, or chancel, and there to receive the sacred
78 THE LIFE OF
1662-9. elements from the hands of the priest, in a bowing
or adoring posture. This was writ at the request
of his diocesan, bishop Framptond, who sat with
great reputation for many years in the episcopal
chair of Gloucester, but chose rather to lose his
bishopric8, and the rest of his preferments, than
sacrifice the peace of his own mind, or comply with
such terms which his conscience could not digest.
And as it was composed at the desire of his bishop,
so was it wrote in opposition to those who have
taken the liberty to assert, that none besides a
table-posture was used, till the doctrine of the cor
poral presence was first introduced into the church ;
which is so contrary to the practice of all antiquity,
that it is certain, that anciently it was not permitted
to any person whatsoever, except the emperor only,
when he made his oblation, to go, during the time
of divine service, into the altar-part of the church,
which was then termed the sanctuarium, and is
now by us called the chancel. And accordingly
St. Ambrose would not permit the emperor Theo-
dosius himself to communicate f in this part, but
obliged him to retire as soon as he had made his
oblation at the altar.
When Dr. Pearson was about vindicating the
epistles of that apostolical bishop and martyr St.
Ignatius, and some time before he published # his
d [It therefore could not have been written till many years
after the time of which Nelson is now speaking ; for Robert
Frampton was not consecrated bishop of Gloucester till 1681.]
e [He was deprived in 1690 for not taking the oaths to
William and Mary.]
f Vid. Theodor. lib. v. c. 18. Sozom. lib. vii. c. 25.
£ [He published the Vindicite Epistolarum S. Ignatii in 1672.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 79
admirable treatise upon that subject, Mr. Bull, 1662-9.
though very young, wrote a long letter to him in
Latin, containing many excellent observations and
solid arguments to prove that those epistles were
genuine. Dr. Pearson returned him a large answer
in the same learned language ; wherein he gave him
ample thanks for the pains he had taken upon that
subject ; acknowledged the great usefulness of his
observations, and the strength of his arguments.
This answer and the former tract were read by Mr.
Archdeacon Stephens, son-in-law to bishop Bull,
and present rector of Suddington, many years ago ;
a person very considerable for his piety and learn
ing; and it is to him I owe the preceding account
of the contents of them ; but they are not now to be
found. He wrote, besides this, a long letter to Mr.
Glanvil, formerly minister of Bath, concerning the
eternity of future punishments ; and another upon
the subject of popery, to a person of great quality ;
but nothing remaineth concerning them, but that
they were wrote. Many other considerable letters
of Mr. Bull's, and answers to them, would have
entertained the reader very agreeably, if the author
had not been too intent upon his studies to copy the
one, and too negligent to preserve the others.
XVII. In the year 1669, he first printed that ex- 1669.
cellent piece, his Apostolical Harmony*, &c. which ^Yi" first
was begun by him, when but young1, with a view of^™1!*
Apoatolica,
h Harmonia Apostolica, seu binse dissertationes, quarum in &c.
priore, Doctrina D. Jacobi de Justificatione ex operibus explana-
tur ac defenditur ; in posteriore, consensus D. Pauli cum Jacobo
liquido demonstratur, &c.
1 [At the age of twenty-six or twenty-seven.]
80 THE LIFE OF
1669. settling peace in the church, upon a point of the
greatest importance to all its members. This book
he dedicated to his diocesan the bishop of Glouces
ter, Dr. William Nicholson, a very proper judge and
patron, who had very much also encouraged and
supported him in this work ; for he was not willing,
but with the approbation and direction of his supe
rior under God, to adventure into the world upon
an undertaking so difficult and hazardous as this
did appear. And since this treatise tendeth so
much to clear the doctrine of the apostles in the
fundamental point of our salvation, and to shew the
exact harmony betwixt them, as to the manner of
obtaining it by Christ ; and will also be of no small
use for the reading of St. Paul's Epistles with un
derstanding; I shall beg leave to lay before the
reader a distinct plan of the whole ; as likewise the
causes of writing it, and the treatment and success
it met with, and the several batteries that have
been raised against it ; that they that are otherwise
minded, may at least have no reason to complain,
as if they were not fairly represented.
An account Though this piece was not printed till the year
'aforesaid, yet it appeareth to have been k written
eight or nine years before ; whereby the first rise and
design of it will be more clearly manifest, than it
could have been, had we not known in what a notable
juncture of our affairs the same was composed. For
there having been, during the unhappy times of the
great rebellion, a vast multitude of books written
upon the subject of justification, by the hot men of
the several parties, some of whom, in treating of it,
k Apologia pro Harmonia, &c. sect. 8. 11.5.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 81
leaned too much to Popery or Judaism, others to An- 1669.
tinomianism and Libertinism, some asrain to Pela^ian-
o o
ism and Socinianism, and others, lastly, to Manich seism
and Fatalism ; all very dangerous errors : and abun
dance of learned sophistry having been used in per
plexing the plain and natural sense of the divinely
inspired writers; and several hypotheses moreover
invented purely to serve a turn, which did but the
more still obscure what they pretended to clear up,
and set at a wider distance those whom they laboured
to reconcile by their strained and metaphysical sub-
tilties ; they not only disagreeing about what was
meant by justification, but even by faith and by
works, and indeed about every term that is made use
of either by St. Paul or by St. James when they speak
to this point : and so feigning one apostle to write
concerning a first, and the other concerning a second
justification ; or else one concerning a justification
before men only, and the other concerning the same
before God ; one concerning a true, the other con
cerning a false faith; with a multitude of other
groundless inventions, utterly foreign to the minds
of both the said apostles ; and many foolish contests
having been startled about words, that could have no
other end but to raise a dust ; there could nothing
come forth more seasonably, if well done, than a
treatise of this nature.
Wherefore, there having been such a fierce conten- The causes
. , , , ., /.and motives
tion raised concerning this article, by the writers or of his ^it-
controversy, for about twenty years of confusion in in
church and state, not to mention what had passed
before that time in other countries; our author having
been then about five years in holy orders, according
to the church of England, when by the restoration of
G
8<2 THE LIFE OF
1669. the right heir to sit on the throne of his father, the
~~ church with him was restored to her former rights ;
though he then wanted above three years of thirty,
thought it, however, time for him now to fix his
principles, by going up to the very source, and by
taking a fair review, according to the holy Scriptures
and primitive antiquity, of such a point, as had
evidently contributed to several great revolutions,
not only in the church, but also in the l kingdoms
and states of the world ; and might, he thought, yet
contribute to more : and a point also which was of
the utmost consequence to be rightly understood for
the guidance of conscience.
A particu- To the consideration of which, he was still in a
lar obhga- t .
tion laid more particular manner engaged by certain circum-
consider stances of life ; for among the first flock that was
verssy°ntr°~ committed to his charge at St. George's near Bristol,
there were not a few wandering sheep, which had
been misled into strange paths, through their not
understanding the terms of the evangelical covenant,
and by the unwarrantable confidence of false in
truding shepherds were in the extremest danger of
being lost. For the reduction of these he preached
a sermon against the prevailing antinornian opinions,
upon St. James ii. 24, which leading him gradually
to a deeper inquiry into this matter, was, as I gather
from his premonition to the reader, the first occasion
of this discourse.
His prepa- Whereupon he read over the New Testament, but
ration for . , , , „ . .
writing it. more especially the Epistles, with this view, consult
ing the ablest commentators as he went along, and
weighing their arguments indifferently, without re-
1 Vid. Tull. Epist. ded. ad Justifi. Pauli, et Sleidan. Com. &c.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 8,<3
spect to the party, or communion they lived in. And '669.
still, for farther satisfaction of what was believed by
the primitive Christians, in this great concern for
obtaining a title to eternal happiness, he omitted not
to consult the best writers of antiquity and venerable
lights of the church. With the same view was the
Liturgy, the Articles, and the Homilies of our church
read by him ; and diligently compared with their
established rule, the written word of God, together
with the truly ancient and catholic interpretations
thereof. This let him into several other controversies,
as depending upon this, and particularly obliged him
to a survey of the times of reformation, and of the
methods that were then taken both at home and
abroad, as also of the principal characters of the first
reformers ; and being thus qualified, he set himself
thoroughly to reexamine this cause, which gave birth
to the Reformation.
Upon this review then of the controversy, as i
Till- • i 11 which he
stood both betwixt papists and protestants, and be- took incoi-
tween protestants one among another, he, for his own teriaif "
satisfaction, digested under proper places or heads, all
that he could find material in any of them, relating
to this evangelical dispensation. And this he did
not only that he might form a right judgment upon
them, but that he might be more capable of dis
charging the duty of his place, and of bringing in
some others likewise to the discernment and acknow
ledgment of the truth ; which was hereby made so
very clear to him.
But being sensible that too much had been written HOW he
n -i came to
in English upon this subject; and that most or what write in
was written was to little purpose, except to divide
and distract people's minds; he therefore drew up in
r 9
84 THE LIFE OF
1669. Latin a short Harmony of the, Apostles as to this
head, that it might be thoroughly considered by the
men of learning and capacity, reasonably supposing,
that if they were set right in this great article, it
would be more easily propagated among the vulgar
and unlearned. For this end, he submitted his per
formance to the censure of his learned friends, and
(as in duty he thought himself chiefly bound) par
ticularly to his worthy diocesan ; to which at length
after mature deliberation upon the whole, and think
ing it over and over again many times, he put his
last hand, being then in the thirty-sixth year of his
age, and sent it abroad into the world with their
approbation, that it might serve as a manuduction
to the candidates of divinity, who were to be set
apart to instruct others.
Thegenerai XVIII. This book consisteth of two parts or dis-
design of sertations ; the first of these explaineth and defendeth
the doctrine of St. James ; and the other clearly, I
think, demonstrates the argeement and harmony of
St. Paul with him, in this fundamental point of our
faith and hope. But more particularly his aim and
design in the first dissertation is to shew, " That
" good works which proceed from faith, and are con-
" joined with faith, are a necessary condition required
" from us by God, to the end that by the new and
" evangelical covenant obtained by and sealed in the
" blood of Christ the Mediator of it, we may be jus-
<k tified according to his free and unmerited grace."
For it is observable, that he every where throughout
this treatise openly renounceth all pretence to any
manner of merit of our o\vn works ; even so far as
scarce to acknowledge that person for a Christian who
tise.
DR. GEOKGE BULL. 85
should advance or defend merit, properly so called; 1669.
and nothing can indeed be more plain, than that in
the whole affair of our salvation, and process of divine
justification, he attributeth all to the meritorious obe
dience of the holy Jesus, as the blessed Author and
Finisher of it. Of which obedience, his most precious
death is, by our most excellent harmonist, declared
to be the consummation and utmost completion : and
to it are here ascribed the very greatest and highest
things, that it was even possible for him to express.
More particularly,
Of this meritorious obedience of Christ for us sin- His groat
ners, he plainly and roundly says, that this alone hath trelitinVtil
given satisfaction to the divine justice ; that this alone ^tijifa-
rendereth the most holy and most righteous God'1'0"-
propitious to sinful men ; and that this alone is the
efficacious cause of God's promising and offering us
pardon and eternal life upon so very reasonable and
equitable a condition, as in the Gospel is set forth.
And he constantly moreover teach eth, both in the
very Treatise and in the Apology for it, " That no man
" can, without divine grace, and the assistance of the
" Holy Spirit, as flowing forth from the precious side
" of the crucified Jesus, perform the condition of the
" Gospel-covenant." And, in a word, he most severely
anathematizes the Pelagian heresy, as it is received
by the Socinians and others, for derogating from the
grace of God, and ascribing too much to the power
of man in his fallen estate : and most frequently cele
brates the praise of this divine grace so perfectly ac
cording to the mind of St. Paul, and the declaration
of the church of England, both in her Articles and
Homilies, that it may well be doubted whether any
one can do it more.
86 THE LIFE OF
1669. But notwithstanding all this caution of his, in the
- treating of this point, that had been rendered so ab-
some pro- struse, more by the laborious disputations of divines,
vin^'tare- tnan by the nature of the thing itself, or of the reve-
upon. lation concerning it ; there was presently no small
alarm both in the church and out of it, from Mr.
Bull's performance, as if the church of England, and
the whole protestant religion were by it, in danger.
For his departing herein from the private opinions of
some doctors of our church, though in obedience to
her ride, wras by several interpreted for no less than a
departing from the faith by her delivered ; and his
method of reconciling the two apostles of our Lord,
how plain soever in itself, could not be made so plain,
but that many being zealously affected for the names
of Luther and Calvin, whom they honoured as the
two apostles of the reformation, \vould be ready to
take offence at it ; as the event indeed proved.
The occa- Upon an impartial inquiry into the grounds of this
grounds of offence taken, it evidently appeared, that this was the
tirfaction. very chief stone of stumbling, viz., the honour of the
first reformers. And it seemeth, moreover, that
this essay for union, by taking the middle way, could
not please any of those zealous gentlemen, who never
can think themselves safe enough from one extreme
without they run into the other. Some there were
more wise and learned than the rest, who yet approved
it not, that they might not appear guilty of innovat
ing, as they called it. And it could not be digested
by them, either because it was not at first so very per
fectly understood by several of our own divines, any
more than by the dissenters from our communion, as
most of the presbyterians, and many independents
and anabaptists; or else because the prejudices
DR. GEORGE BULL. 87
which a great many worthy persons among us had 1669.
sucked in from the narrow systems of modern di-
vinity, and who had, during the great Rebellion in
church and state, been educated in the predestinarian
and antinomian notions, were too strong for them en
tirely to overcome, even with the help of the clearest
light.
Hence in the same year there arose in the church
no small contention, whether this interpretation of chm-ch of e
Scripture were conformable to the Articles of
gion, and the Homily of Justification therein referred ^present-
to ; some maintained with our author that it was ;
some doubted about it, and others downright denied
it, and condemned it as heretical. There was many
a hard censure passed upon the book, and the author
for some time, which is not to be wondered at ; yea,
there were not wanting then even men of some
eminence in our church, who with all their might
opposed him, probably out of a well-meant zeal,
and would certainly have overwhelmed him and his
doctrine, had it been possible.
But such, it appears, was the strength and evi- The effect
dence of his arguments, after the severest examina- contention
tion that could be made of them, as he daily wonprodui
more and more friends to his side ; and the greatness
of the opposition against him did but the more
contribute to establish the truth, among all the sober
and candid inquirers after it ; which could be only
opposed because not rightly apprehended and stated.
And how successfully he hath done this, I shall leave
the reader to consider, not from the imperfect abstract
which is here given, but from the effects they have
manifestly produced, and that general conviction
which hath commonly followed the Harmony itself,
88 THE LIFE OF
1669. with the Apology for it. Some of the effects I may
have hereafter occasion to mention. So that it shall
here suffice to observe, in short, that they of the
English clergy, who were the least favourable to it,
became the greatest promoters of it, while by all their
endeavours to suppress it, they made it effectually to
spread the more, when the matter came to be duly
and impartially scanned without those metaphysical
niceties, which have only served to perplex a cause
that might be understood without them. The opin
ion of some private doctors was at this time artfully
cried up for the judgment of the church of England;
and such an exposition was given to some of her Ar
ticles, even against her own authentic interpretation
of them, as might set her at a still greater distance
from the church of Rome.
The advan- The best of it is, this contention was of no long
Ajf^BuH's0 continuance: for not long after this treatise was
printed, and received with much applause on one
side, and contradiction on the other ; the sense of
the church of England, as it is founded upon the
word of God, came to be cleared up, by the care and
diligence of those who were excited hereby, much
better than ever it had been before : and by the sober
manner of treating this controversy in both these dis
sertations, and the author's most serious protestation
and appeal to Heaven, it pleased God to cool, by-
degrees, the minds of some, which had been heated
about this matter over-much, through the intem
perance of a truly laudable concern for the victory of
faith : and to win over others entirely to the acknow
ledgment of the truth, which is according to right
eousness and godliness, who had been before but
too averse to it, out of jealousy of making void the
DR. GEORGE BULL. 89
Gospel of Christ, and of setting np instead thereof a 1669.
certain mixture of Judaism and Christianity ; for so
this was misrepresented to be. But the vanity of
the charge, as also that of popery, was soon made
evident to as many as would be content to read with
their own eyes, which many did labour to affright
them from.
XIX. In the year 1670, there were some animad- Animad
versions of a learned divine made upon this treatise ; o^h'i
which he, concealing his name, communicated in ma
nuscript to several of the bishops, at the same time
stirring them up by letter to make use of their apo
stolical authority in thundering out their anathemas
against the doctrines here maintained, as pernicious
and heretical, and contrary to the decrees of the
church of England, and of all other reformed churches;
who was quickly seconded in this by some others
partly known, and partly unknown, of whom some
that understood but little of the matter, were, as it
often happens, the hottest of all against him, and
were for pushing things to the utmost extremity ;
but moderate counsels prevailed for the most part,
and the governors of the church were so wise, as not
to intermeddle farther in this affair, than to keep the
peace of the church committed to them.
There was indeed one great and good bishop, who, The o
for reasons I am not well acquainted with, proceeded w'ith from
much farther than any of the rest of his order. This S,£"lsi"
was Dr. Morley bishop of Winchester, who, whatever™6"™ the
his own private opinion might be of the matter, seems
to have been utterly against the reviving a debate of
this kind at all, upon any pretence whatsoever, and
not to have been so well satisfied, as some of his
90 THE LIFE OF
1669. brethren, with this performance of an author, who
had done nothing1 before this to signalize himself,
and whose youth was too great a prejudice for many
to iret over. But whatever were his motives for so
O
doing, this learned bishop, in a pastoral charge to the
clergy of his diocese, at his visitation, thought fit to
warn them against intruding too rashly into things
above them, and to prohibit them the reading of this
book, or preaching according to it. Some heads of
houses in the two universities were also of the bi
shop's mind : and there were some tutors too, that
thought it incumbent on them to guard their pupils
from the danger of what appeared to them, an inno
vation in the church. Dr. Barlow and Dr. Tully
were among the most zealous to oppose the pacific
method for reconciling the different systems about
attaining salvation, by their rigid adherence to cer
tain tenets by them formerly imbibed, and to some
scholastic terms unsupported either by Scripture or
antiquity. But though the first of these read public
lectures against the Harmonia Apostolica, from the
divinity-chair; and though the other made it his
business to answer it at large from the press ; yet it
failed not to make its way through all opposition and
contradiction, and to gain continually more and more
ground, as it came hereby to be more read and con
sidered. And so in a very few years the strife ceased ;
forasmuch as the victory was at last so complete, as
none were found able to rally their forces in this
cause against our judicious harmonizer. This is what
is known to have passed within the church, as to the
establishment of the peace thereof in this point, even
as it is at this day. As to what passed without in
relation to it, there is but little to be said here ;
DR. GEORGE BULL. 91
perhaps there may somewhat occur in the progress 1669.
of this account, which will give sufficient satisfaction.
However, the weapons of them within, and those
without, are the very same ; and by knowing the
strength of the one, we cannot be strangers to that
of the other.
The author m of the Animadversions before men- And from
tioned, commonly cited under the name of the Cfew-therhalf-
sura, was the son of a very learned presbyterian, and OT mra!*o
strictly educated in those distinguishing doctrines formists>
which had lately been ratified by the Westminster
Assembly. And the very first man that publicly ap
peared in print for these doctrines, against the book
of the Apostolical Harmony, was Mr. Joseph Truman,
a non-conformist minister, after whom came out
Dr. Tully's answer to it. And last of all, Mr. John
Tombes of Bewdly, a famous anabaptist preacher,
on the part of the dissenters, undertook the same
cause ; as if the very foundation of the reformation
were struck at by this attempt.
XX. Now as the method of our author was always A review of
to seek truth at the fountain-head ; whatever respect tbr deter-
he might have for our first reformers, and some other ^""^o/st.
great divines, both foreigners and natives, he could James-
by no means take up with their authority, though
never so pompously set off; but was for going di
rectly to the very originals themselves, and for con
sulting the most ancient and unexceptionable wit
nesses, where any difference might happen to arise
concerning them. Accordingly he betakes himself,
in the very first place, to the holy Scriptures ; and
m [Charles Gataker, son of Thomas Gataker.]
92 THE LIFE OF
1669. here he prudently beginneth with that which is ob-
~~ vious and plain, rather than with that which is am
biguous and obscure : and so findeth in the simplicity
of St. James, a key to the $v<rvoyTa of St. Paul, those
hard passages of which St. Peter makes mention. At
least, there are such reasons for him to conclude that
he hath found this key, as do bear the greatest re
semblance of truth ; for there appeareth nothing more
simple and easy to be understood, than the plain pro
position of St. James, " "That by deeds a man is jus-
" tiffed, or that just works declare a man just, and
" not his faith only, let it be never so right and or-
" thodox." It is also that declaration of St. Paul °
himself, which he made at Antioch, that is by some
of our learned men looked upon as the sum and sub
stance of the whole Gospel : " He thereby testifying,
" that through Christ alone we are to expect justifi-
" cation and remission of sins ; and consequently,
" that by our submission to the Gospel of Christ, not
" to the Law of Moses, we are acquitted by him, and
" placed in the number of the righteous"
Thepropo- And to make this yet more plain, he states and
james°far ".' defends the proper sense of the word SIKOUOVV, against
^earned Grotius ; vindicating herein our trans
lators, by whom it is rightly rendered, to justify.
And here, by many testimonies both out of the Old
and New Testament, he proveth, that it must needs
signify such an act of God as is properly judicial;
whereby he acquitteth the person accused, and by the
law of grace in Christ, receiveth such an one to his
favour, as if he were innocent, and perfectly just. So
that the principal cause of such justification is, in
n Chap. ii. o Acts xiii. 38, 39.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 93
the author's words, mera et yratuita Dei Pair is 1669.
miser icor dia ; "the mere and free grace of Cod the
" Father :" the meritorious cause of it is, the obedi
ence of Christ both active and passive. And works of
righteousness are, according to him, not properly
any cause at all thereof, but merely a condition,
sine qua non, as the schools love to speak, by God
required in the evangelical covenant. This obser
vation he draweth from the use of the particle e£, as
it is applied by St. James to works, and by St. Paul
to faith.
Having thus explained the proposition of this first This expii-
dissertation, according to the mind of the apostle,
he proceedeth next to establish the truth thereof by
several arguments. The first of which is taken from
the express testimony of holy Scripture ; the second,
from the very notion itself of justification ; the third,
from the nature of faith ; the fourth, from the pro
ceedings of God in the day of judgment ; and the
fifth, from the implicit confession of the very adver
saries themselves to this doctrine.
XXI. Now, under the first head, which is the tcs- Argument
f n 111 i c *^e first>
timony oj scripture, he hath two classes or texts, from the
serving for confirmation of this doctrine, as before |)fShdyny
represented. The former is of those texts and pas- Scr)Pture-
sages that speak in general of good works, or of
righteousness, as of a condition that tendeth to make
us accepted of God, through his grace. And of this
kind there are abundance of very obvious ones in
the Prophets, in the Gospels, and in the Epistles.
So that every one that runneth, may read, how ac
ceptable in the sight of God holiness is ; and find
that obedience is no less necessary than faith, to
94 THE LIFE OF
1669. attain eternal life. The latter class is of those texts,
in which some special works, as absolutely necessary
to salvation or justification, are required of us by
God. And of this sort, there are found also many
clear and express passages, which one would think
very sufficient fully to determine this matter. As
particularly, all those places deserve to be noted,
which require repentance as a disposition, without
which none is capable of obtaining the forgiveness
of his sins from God : forasmuch as these so evi
dently refer to the evangelical state, as to deny the
same, would be to deny the whole Gospel. Now,
under repentance, he will have to be comprehended
these following good acts, viz., a true sorrow for sins
past, an humiliation under the righteous hand of
God, an hatred and detestation of sin, a confession
of it, an earnest supplication for divine grace and
mercy, the fear and love of God, a ceasing from evil,
a firm purpose of new obedience, restitution of what
hath been unjustly gotten, forgiveness of all them
who may have trespassed against us; and lastly,
works of beneficence and charity. Then he proveth,
after this, that there is the very same regard had
always by God to faith and repentance, in the par
doning of a sinner. And farther, that the faith,
whereof in the New Testament there are so great
and glorious things pronounced, is not to be taken
for a single Christian virtue or grace, but for the
whole body and collection of the divine virtues and
graces, or, for a life according to the Gospel. Nay,
he sheweth, that when it is taken in that particular
and limited sense, it is so far from being the instru
mental cause of our justification, as some pretend,
that it hath not so much as the chief place among
DR. GEORGE BULL. 95
those qualifications that concur to make us accept- 1669.
able to God ; it being ranked, even by St. Paul him-
self, but in the third order, as inferior not only to
charity, but even to hope. However, though faith
be lesser than charity in one respect, he readily yet
grants that in another respect it is greater than
charity, namely, as it is the foundation both of that,
and of all the rest of the Christian virtues; and
though faith doth not necessarily beget them ; yet
that it is apt, and in its own nature disposed so to
do. The sacred texts of the first class by him in
sisted upon for the proof of his proposition, are these
out of the Old Testament; Isa. i. 16, 17* 18. and
Ezek. xxxiii. 14, 15, 16. and out of the New Testa
ment, first, the words of Christ himself, in John xiv.
21, 23. and xv. 14. and next to him, those of his
apostles, in Acts x. 34, 35. 1 John i. 7- Heb. x. 8, 9-
1 Cor. vi. 11. and 1 Peter i. 2. besides James ii. 24.
So that an appeal is here made to the testimony of
two witnesses under the Law, persons of a most
eminent prophetical character; and to that of our
Lord under the Gospel, accompanied not only with
his disciples, Peter, James, and John, attesting the
same truth, but also with the apostles of the uncir-
cumcision, and most zealous assertors of Christian
liberty. These texts are all clearly explained and
vindicated from the exceptions of certain metaphy
sical disputants : and to these are also added several
other by the judicious amwtator, that are no less
strong. Those of the second class are above twenty,
of which I shall only mention the first and the last,
than which nothing can be well more decisive ; that
Acts ii. 38. as in the name of the whole apostolical
college, when the Holy Ghost descended upon them,
96 THE LIFE OF
1669. and not of St. Peter only ; and this Heb. xiii. 16. as
the undoubted sense both of them, and their brother
Paul, and of the whole Christian church both He
brew and Gentile. Upon which he cites a saying of
St. Chrysostom, That without works of mercy re
pentance is dead, and illustrates it by the practice
of the ancient church at their receiving of penitents.
Which is confirmed also by his explication of Dan.
iv. 27. according to the oriental custom of speech ;
wherein he followeth Grotius, and prefers here the
interpretation of the Seventy to our English transla
tion, as more nearly approaching the propriety of
the Chaldee original. For the Chaldee pherak is
the same as the Hebrew phadah, signifying to re
deem : and the vulgar Latin agreeably renders it,
peccata tua eleemosynis redime. For as nothing is
more certain than that he shall have judgment
without mercy, who hath shewed no mercy, so on
the other side it is equally certain, that mercy re-
joiceth against judgment; and this rejoicing can
never be without justification. As for the trifling
distinction of mite and ad, in this controversy, by
which it is pretended that works indeed of mercy
and righteousness are necessary before but not ne
cessary unto justification ; it is here so baffled, both
by the author and by his annotator, as there can
scarce be a greater evidence of a bad cause, than
to have recourse to such poor shifts and slender
evasions.
Argument XXII. Under the next head his method to esta-
the second,
from the ju-bhsh this doctrine, as explained and defended by
ridical no- , . ,. . n .
tion of jus- the testimony aforesaid, is from the notion and na
ture of justification, as exercised in courts of judi-
DR. GEORGE MILL. 97
cature. Where he observeth, that in every judicial 1669.
process there must be, 1 . a judge, who is to pro-
Dounce the sentence : 2. a prisoner, or criminal,
who is called to his trial : and, 3. a law, or rule,
according to which the sentence must be pronounced,
either for or against the prisoner at the bar. And
in perfect analogy to this sort of proceeding in hu
man courts, he takes notice, that if any man be said
to be justified in the sight of God, whether it be by
the works of the law, or by faith in Christ ; in this
case the prisoner that pleadeth at the bar is man ;
the judge is God ; and the rule according to which
judgment is passed, is either the law of Moses on
one side, or the law of Christ on the other, the
which is otherwise called the P law of faith ; since
no man can judicially be pronounced just, unless he
be duly acquitted according to the rule of that law
whereby he is judged, whether that law be the Mo-
saical or the Christian. Which latter he interpreteth
to be the very moral law of God, as expounded and
perfected by Christ on the mount, and expressly
ratified by his own divine sanction, Matt. vii. 24,
&c. And which is distinguished from the Mosaical
law of ceremonial observances by several names ; as,
the perfect law, the royal law, the law of liberty,
and the like ; meaning hereby that law which is
perfective of human nature, is a law given us by the
mouth of Christ our King, and is conducive to our
true liberty ; that is, to a liberty not only from the
voke of Jewish ceremonies and ordinances, but also
•/
from the guilt and penalty of sin, and chiefly from
the dominion and tyranny thereof in our flesh;
P Rom. iii. 27.
H
98 THE LIFE OF
1669. through the assistance of Christ's Spirit, helping
~ herein our infirmities, that we may fulfil the same.
Whereupon not only the loose principles of the anti-
nomians, libertines, familists, and others of that sort,
are by him deservedly exploded : but they who al
low their principles, and yet reject their conclusion,
are fairly warned of the dangerous consequences
which they seem not to apprehend ; and the injudi
cious method of some protestant divines, in their
controversies with the papists on this point, is taxed
as it deserves.
Argument The third argument, that justification is not by
itonfthe' ^tn al°ne> m tne strict acceptation of the word, is
notion and taken from the consideration of the very nature of
nature of
faith. faith., and of the several acts that are generally as
signed to it. And the sum of his argument is, that
faith, per se, or considered as distinct from the rest
of the Christian virtues, hath nothing in the nature
of it, but what may well enough consist with an
ungodly and unjustified person. For the acts of
faith being by divines generally distributed into
these three, 1. knowledge; 2. assent; and 3. reli
ance; he handleth each of these distinctly, and
clearly proveth, that not one of them hath a natural
aptitude to justify a sinner, or a characteristic to
distinguish a reprobate from a saint. And there
being no act of faith nakedly and per se considered,
to which justification is necessarily joined ; since
knowledge without practice, the assent of the mind
without the love of the heart, and the reliance upon
the promises of the Gospel, without the sincere en
deavour of performing the conditions of it, are of no
worth before God; he concludeth that we ought
firmly to believe, that no person can be justified in
DR. GEORGE BULL. 99
the sight of God by faith alone, (as it is strictly 1669.
taken,) without the other virtues, which Christ hath"
required together with it in order to that end. Par
ticularly he sheweth, that the knowledge of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ may be had by the wicked,
as well as the most righteous. That there may be
an assent also given to the truth of it by reprobates,
yea even by devils ; and that, lastly, there may be a
reliance on the promise of it, either conditional or
absolute, by them that are certainly in a bad estate :
nay that it is not impossible to have all faith, and
the very highest degrees thereof, and yet to remain
still but in a doubtful and dangerous condition.
And having very solidly treated this matter in all
the several branches thereof, the reverend author
telleth his reader what the true and Christian reli
ance by faith properly is, and wherein consisteth
the only assurance of our salvation. This is fully
argued from that famous passage in St. John's
first Epistle, iii. 19, 20, 21, which is brought also
as a farther confirmation of his hypothesis, that
seemeth hence to be no other than the catholic
and apostolical explication of the divine economy
towards man.
XXIII. His fourth argument for the proof of it, Argument
is taken from the nature and manner of God's pro-fnm,°God's
ceeding in the day of judgment. From which he thus f^
reasoneth, that every one shall be judged by God in
the world to come, after the same manner as he is
in this present world justified by him : and that
therefore since every one is to be judged at the
last day by works, (according to Matt. xxv. 21, &c.,
compared with chap. xii. 36, 37. Rom. ii. 6, 13.
H 2
100 THE LIFE OF
1669. 1 Cor. iii. 13. iv. 4, 5.) and not by faith alone, with-
~~ out works ; every one that is justified by God in this
life, must be also justified after the same manner,
that is, by works, not by faith alone. For the judg
ment of God is the same in the one as in the other,
and changeth not. This I take to be the sum of his
argument ; still understanding by faith, both here
and throughout the whole controversy, that which
is strictly and simply so called, and which is com
prehended under all the three acts or degrees men
tioned in the former argument. Now he takes here
the middle way, after Vossius and Grotius, in ex
plaining Christ's solemn and declarative justification
of his saints at the great day ; which ought well to
be observed. For he will not allow this to be by
works, either as to the meritorious cause of it, as
some do hold ; or as the signs of faith, as others do
maintain; the one being in his opinion too much,
and the other too little. Wherefore there must be
somewhat betwixt these two, according to the prin
ciples by him laid down. The justification of the
righteous in this world and the next being both of
the same nature, according to his proof both from
Scripture and the common sense (as well as con
science) of mankind, he calleth the first of these
constitutive, and the second he calleth declarative;
and evidently sheweth the one of these to be the
rule to the other, and both to be subject to the very
same laws and manner of process ; and only to differ
in this, that the one is privately, the other publicly
transacted. This is set in a true light both by
reason and Scripture. Also the two acts of the
sovereign Judge, in his last and more solemn justi
fication of the righteous, are by him here rightly
DR. GEORGE BULL. 101
distinguished. And in this last, both his declaring 1669.
them just, and his appointing them consequently a
reward thereupon, according to what is made appear
in that day, is here proved perfectly to answer to
the manner and constitution of the first ; which
St. Paul <i calls his Gospel, and St. James1" the perfect
law of liberty. Whence he concludeth, that good
works must be more than merely the signs of faith ;
forasmuch as a sign is always less than the thing
signified. But charity that performeth these good
works, is, if we may believe St. Paul himself, greater
than faith ; and by works also faith is made perfect,
even as it was in Abraham, and in all the saints.
Therefore from the proceeding of God in the day
of judgment, wherein his faithful servants shall be
publicly justified, not only by their faith, but by
their works also ; and wherein both the first act of
the supreme Judge for pronouncing them just, and
the second for decreeing them a suitable reward,
shall have respect to the works they shall have
wrought in the flesh, in obedience to the new cove
nant ; it is evident, that the works of charity, which
make faith perfect, are more than the bare signs of
it, as some divines would pretend ; and that charity,
which is the root of them, and is, without contro
versy, greater than faith, the Holy Ghost witnessing
as much, must be greater, for certain, than to be a
sign only of faith. So then charity, and works pro
ceeding from it, being more than a sign of faith, but
not so much a meritorious cause, it will follow, that
we may so avoid both the extremes, as yet not to
deny, but that good works are a condition, without
q Rom. ii. 1 6. r Chap. i. 25.
102 THE LIFE OF
1669. which none can be justified by God either in this
"life or the next, according to the terms of his
covenant. And if there be any degree of moral
instrumentality, as they term it, in faith, for the
attainment of this blessed end, the same cannot be
altogether wanting in this most excellent gift of
charity, or in the obedience which is founded upon
it, and is the fulfilling and perfection of that faith
which pleaseth God. The appeal is here made to
the judgment-seat of Christ, and to his own express
declaration concerning the process of that great
day. And certainly if his words have any weight
with us, they must leave no small impression upon
us in favour of the doctrine here contended for,
and so strenuously defended by this great and good
man.
Argument His fifth and last argument is taken from the
from the implicit consent of all parties, and from the very
^adTer™- confession of adversaries to this doctrine. And here
ries. he justifies the public confessions of the reformed
churches in this point, as being all or most of them
on his side ; since notwithstanding that they may in
terms declare, that a man is justified by faith alone
without works, it is certain, if we may allow of their
own exposition, that by faith they understand grace
which answereth to it ; and that the plain meaning
is, a man is justified by grace alone, and not by
the merit of works. For this they must mean, as he
proveth, if the authors of those very confessions may
be depended on to understand their own meaning.
So that in writing against some odd doctrines, he is
very far from laying them to the charge of any
Christian society: he only speaketh of the private
opinions of some divines who profess themselves to
DR. GEORGE BULL. 103
follow those confessions, but who mistake and mis- I<569-
apply them. He proveth moreover, that these very
divines who understand riot the confessions and
articles of their own body, and thence oppose the
catholic doctrine in this point, do yet as good as
confess it to be the truth, by certain hypotheses
which they have set up, even to shelter themselves
from the force of it.
XXIV. The first hypothesis is, That the faith The first
which justifieth must be a living and not a dead concerning
faith, or a faith fruitful of good works ; whereby ^2,7
they distinguish it from historical and from mira-faith'
culous faith. And here he exposeth handsomely
the weakness of such disputants, as make the whole
of the controversy to depend hence on a little me
taphysical subtlety, namely, whether faith that is
living, or else faith as it is living, be required as
necessary to our justification. And he fully demon
strates the absurdity hereof, and that it is impossible
upon their supposition, even to make out any sense
of St. James at all. For, first, this apostle most ex
pressly declaring, that a man is justified e£ epyuv, by
works, the particle ef, by, or out of, must manifestly
denote somewhat more than an idle concomitance-
Since if the whole business of justification could be
done and finished by faith alone, or of itself, it
would be absurd to assert, that a man could in any
sense be justified by works. And then, secondly,
speaking of the faith of Abraham, he declareth, how
faith wrought with his works, and how by works
his faith was made perfect, ii. 22. The apostle
hereby both clearly maintaineth the cooperation
of faith and works in the affair of justification, im-
104 THE LIFE OF
1669. mediately before mentioned, ver. 21. And more
over that faith of itself is imperfect, and can never
be brought through to the end of justification, ex
cept as it is made perfect by works. And, lastly,
after having distinctly considered the several objec
tions and evasions that have been invented against
this plain literal sense, he thinketh he may safely
and without heresy make the apostle's conclusion,
according to the clear grammatical meaning of the
words, his own ; forasmuch as whosoever contendeth
that a man may be justified by faith only, and that
ivorhs do nothing in this matter, is even as ridicu
lous and absurd, according to the principles of the
apostolical age, as he that should offer to affirm,
that a man liveth by the body only, and that the
spirit or soul doth contribute nothing to man's life ;
that is, if the parallel of this apostle, ver. 20, be
just, and his reasoning be allowed to be good.
Second A second hypothesis therefore to salve up this
concerning matter, the former being found so insufficient, is,
^yoo4SSlty that good works are necessary to obtain salvation,
works to This is almost generally received by the reformed
salvation. J *
divines, that hold the other side of the question ;
especially by the more moderate sort of them : and
some of them do mightily triumph in it, supposing
that they have hereby secured themselves against
all the evil consequences and contradictions to Scrip
ture, which are charged upon the solifidian doctrine.
Which position they explain after this manner, say
ing, that works are indeed a condition necessary to
obtain, according to God's promise, salvation, but
not that any one should hereby obtain a right to
salvation, this right being freely given to faith only
in justification. But that this is a mere evasion is
DR. GEORGE BULL. 105
fully shewn, both by Scripture reasonings, and by
the very evidence of the proposition itself; so soon
as the same is but explained. For he that granteth
good works to be a condition, which must necessarily
be fulfilled by a Christian for the obtaining of life
eternal, according to God's promise, doth at the
same time clearly confess, that the right to eternal
life is not to be obtained without works. And
again, he that denieth any right to salvation to be
acquired by works, doth contradict the clear and
express testimony of the Holy Ghost, who saith,
Blessed are they who do his COMMANDMENTS,
that they may have a RIGHT to the tree of life,
Rev. xxii. 14. There is no possibility of avoiding
the force of this evidence, as well as that of several
others in the New Testament, more especially these
three, 2 Thess. i. 5, 11. Heb. vi. 10. and 2 Tim. iv. 8.
without entirely subverting the authority of the
sacred writers ; or at least making of them (as some
have profanely jested) a nose of wax. Since, un
doubtedly, if the reward of eternal life, called a
crown of righteousness, be given by the Lord as the
righteous Judge, for what we shall have wrought,
and for having fought a good fight; there must
then of necessity be acquired by what we have
wrought, a right to the reward, according to God's
gracious covenant in Christ. And except this right
be given in justification to love as well as to faith,
and the works thereof, the word of God is hence
plainly made void. Neither can we deny the right
given, but by denying at the same time God to be
righteous, who hath freely given a right to those
that love him, and hath actually obliged himself to
remember in mercy those that work out their salva-
106 THE LIFE OF
1669. tion, by virtue of the said covenant. For if we
~ know any thing, this we know for certain, that God
is not unrighteous, that he should forget the work
and labour of love, which any of his saints have
shewed towards his name : and if so, then they
must have some right by this their work and la
bour, in virtue of his promise, to be accepted and
justified by him. Wherefore good works wrought
out of a love unfeigned, and upon principles purely
evangelical, are not only a necessary condition of
obtaining salvation, which is granted ; but also of
obtaining a right to salvation, that is, a disposition
to be justified : which was to be proved.
Anobjec- And whereas it is objected by them that are
against this right, though it be confessed to be the
free gift of God, that the making of good works any
ways needful to justification, doth both detract from
the merits of Christ, and contradict the words of St.
Paul ; it is prudently and solidly retorted upon them,
that for the very same reasons their own hypothesis
must fall also to the ground. Since as to the merits
of Christ, our salvation no less than our justification
is wholly to be attributed to them ; we being freely
saved as well as freely justified for his sake. And
as to St. Paul, it is manifest that the works which
he disputeth in his Epistles, are by him excluded
from salvation as well as justification. Consider
particularly, Tit. iii. 5. and Ephes. ii. 8, 9. which
will set this matter beyond doubt. Thus endeth his
first dissertation, and his catholic exposition of St.
James.
The propo- XXV. In his second dissertation his main scope
sition of St. .
James de- is to demonstrate, as the very title expresseth, the
DR. GEORGE BULL. 107
good agreement of St. Paul and St. James in this 1669.
matter. And how well he hath performed this, monstrated
there is not required much learning to judge; but with the
a faithful comparison of Scripture, with a moderate set"pa°fL
stock of common sense. The proposition of one
apostle is, That by works a man is justified, not by
faith only. The proposition of the other apostle is,
That a man is justified by faith without the works
(VO/JLOV) of the law. Both these propositions are most
true in themselves, and do perfectly well accord.
And there could have been no difficulty concerning
them, had either the state of the controversy in the
apostles' days been attended to as it ought, or
persons had not come with their modern opinions
and prejudices to read the apostolical epistles; not
so much very often to learn what is the truth, as
to establish themselves thereby, in what they are
already, by the tradition of a sect, prepossessed with
to be truth.
To pass by now the several wrong and unwar- He shews
rantable methods, which have by learned men been/«/.e and
taken, in order to reconcile the seeming opposition soi'vingThe
of these two apostles, in a point so very material as dlfficulty-
this ; which are particularly considered in the three
first chapters of this discourse, and there deservedly
exploded ; our author cometh to the true solution of
the knot in the following chapters. And having in
the first place established this one point for his foun
dation, That St. Paul is to be interpreted by St.
James, and not St. James by St. Paul, in consent
with many of the ancients, (and particularly of St.
Augustine himself,) who are of the opinion that the
General Epistle of St. James, the First of St. John,
and the Second of St. Peter, with that of St. Jude,
108 THE LIFE OF
1669. were written against those, who by misinterpreting
St. Paul's Epistles, had imbibed a fond notion, as if
faith without works \vere sufficient to save them ;
he sheweth whence this obscurity and ambiguity in
the terms of St. Paul might probably arise, which
was the occasion that persons not well grounded
came to mistake or pervert the same.
HOW the Now this can be no otherwise he thinks, than by
term jmtifi- t . '
cation, as not understanding what this apostle meaneth DJJUS-
Paui, Is to tification, or by faith, or by works. Having then
stated the true notion of the term justification, as a
judicial act of God absolving man ; and pronouncing
him just and blessed, according to what was before
by him laid down and proved ; he inquireth next
into what St. Paul meaneth by faith, when he mak-
eth it the necessary qualification of our being judi
cially absolved, or justified in God's court. And
then, lastly, he examineth what those works are
which are totally excluded by the apostle from any
share in our salvation, or in God's acceptance.
temattA As to fatih> b7 making St. Paul here his own in-
in this con- terpreter, he plainly sheweth, that in all such places,
troversy is . J
to be inter- where justification is by him ascribed to it, thereby
is to be constantly understood, the whole condition
of the evangelical covenant; comprehending in it
all the works of Christian piety, as grounded upon
a firm belief thereof; and that in opposition only
to the Jewish false teachers, who preached up jus
tification by the works of the law, St. Paul deli
vered his doctrine of justification by faith, i. e. by
the Gospel.
First argu- Which notion of the Christian faith, as it is
ment, that
st. Paul taught even by this very apostle, he solidly explaineth
and defendeth, by several parallel passages, such as
DR. GEORGE BULL. 109
these, viz. First, For (to the hope of justification 1669.
by faith waited for, ver. 5.) in Jesus Christ neither such a faith
. . . '7/7 ,7 • • . . as implies
circumcision avaiietli any thing, nor uncirciimcision, obedience.
but faith which worJceth by LOVE, Gal. v. 6. Second,
For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth
any thing, nor uncircumcision, but a NEW CREA
TURE, vi. 15. Third, Circumcision is nothing, and
uncircumcision is nothing, but the keeping the COM
MANDMENTS of God is ALL; 1 Cor. vii. 19. compared
with the words of our Saviour, John xv. 14. and
Matt. xii. 50. And this he doth here farther
illustrate and confirm by all those passages, where
either the apostle expoundeth faith by obedience,
or else speaketh of the obedience of faith : as
particularly, when he saith, they have not all obeyed
the Gospel, Rom. x. 16. there interpreting and
applying the words of Isaiah, who crieth out, Lord,
who hath believed our report, or preaching f Isai.
liii. 1. which obeying the Gospel or obedience of
faith, he declareth in the same Epistle to be \6yu)
KOI epyy, by word and deed ; xv. 18. Whence it
is plain, that by faith, we are here and elsewhere,
as often as it is supposed to act instrumentally for
our justification, to understand that only which
worJceth by charity, and which is the same with
the new creature, and containeth in it the keeping
of God's commandments : and that believing and
obeying the Gospel do in his writings signify the
very same thing, which is called by him the obedi
ence of faith, the obedience of Christ, and simply
obedience, Rom. i. 5. xvi. 19, 26. 2 Cor. vii. 15.
x. 5, 6. compared with James i. 22. Rom. ii. 13. as
also with 1 Pet. i. 2, 22. where to purify the soul in
OBEYING the truth, that is, the Gospel ; and the
110 THE LIFE OF
1669. sanctijication of the Spirit unto OBEDIENCE, which
"~ is by casting down all human imaginations and rea
sonings against the truths of God, and bringing
into captivity every thought to the OBEDIENCE of
Christ, must needs be the same with purifying the
heart by faith, and the being sanctified by faith, in
Acts xv. 9. and xxvi. 18. And forasmuch as it
seemed good to the Holy Ghost to join, both with
this same obedience to the faith, and the sanctifica-
tion to this obedience, the sprinkling of the blood
of Jesus Christ, which is uncontrovertedly our justi
fication, it will necessarily follow, that the Christian
obedience, by which the soul is purified and sancti
fied through the Spirit and blood of Christ, must
not be understood to be different from that faith
which both purifieth and justifieth, according to
the language of the very same apostle, as from
abundance of places doth appear : and this is that
faith which is properly called fides formata, being
faith formed and quickened by charity. Thus St.
Paul's sense is from parallel passages, to which many
more might be added, made clear ; whence the true
notion of Christian faith and obedience will be
found not hard to be comprehended : this is his first
argument.
Second ar- Another arument that St. Paul meaneth here
j . „ .
that St. no other faith, but such as contameth in it obedi-
sifch "faith ence> anc^ cannot be separated from charity, is taken
" from that famous passage of his in 1 Cor. xiii. 2.
where he maketh nothing at all of faith alone, or
faith by itself, yea of the very highest faith, unless
it be animated and informed by Christian love and
obedience. For as to the vulgar objection, that the
apostle is here speaking only of miraculous faith, or
DR. GEORGE BULL. Ill
of some such faith at least as is imperfect, or super- 1 669.
ficial and counterfeit ; this he thinks is most easily
refuted by a very little attention to the words of the
text and their connexion. Because, first, the apo
stle speaketh here expressly of all manner of faith,
as well as of all manner of knowledge; and thus,
using the same term, he elsewhere speaketh of all
manner of affliction, or any affliction, 2 Cor. i. 4.
Secondly, the miracle-working faith is the highest
degree of faith ; there being no other faith as con
sidered in itself^ that is greater and nobler than
this : if any will therefore own this faith to be no
thing in the sight of God, though it includes the
highest degree of assent to the Gospel of Christ,
they must consequently grant, that there is no man
ner of faith, which nakedly considered, can avail
aught to a man's salvation. Thirdly, there can be
no doubt made, but that the apostle is here writing
of true and evangelical charity; and not of any in
ferior sort, which sometimes may be called by that
name: but if one part of the comparison be true
and real, so must the other part be likewise. For
if charity that is true be preferred only to know
ledge that is unsound, and is falsely so called ; or to
prophecy that is pretended; or to the understand
ing of mysteries that is imaginary ; or to faith that
is untrue or dead; such a comparison would be as
ridiculous, as to compare the strength of a child
with that of a lion, and to prefer the child's strength
in making nothing of the lion's, hereby meaning a
living child, but a dead lion. Fourthly, it is by all
generally owned, that at the end of this chapter no
other but true and perfect faith is to be understood :
but if so, then also must it necessarily be under-
112 THE LIFE OF
1669. stood at the beginning of the chapter after the same
manner, the whole being one continued discourse,
otherwise the apostle would be inconsistent with
himself.
Third argii- A third argument for this acceptation of the word
st. Paul faith in many places of St. Paul's Epistles, not ac-
faith cording to the simple, but the complex sense there-
ethobedN~
C~ of, is taken from that remarkable text, Rom. ii. 13.
ence.
(interpreted by chap. xiii. 10. Gal. v. 14. and James
ii. 8.) where he expressly declareth the observing of
God's commandments to be needful to justification ;
by determining, that it is not the hearers or be
lievers that are justified before God, but that the
DOERS of the law shall be JUSTIFIED. Nothing,
one would think, can be more plain than this, yet
neither is this all ; the whole current of the revela
tion of the New Testament constantly supposing no
less, as in it is contained a body of divine precepts
and rules, wisely adapted to perfect human nature,
and to justify as many as are conformed thereby to
the will of God. This one passage of St. Paul being
applied to the perfect law of Christ, is as good as a
thousand. Wherefore, to omit others, let it be suffi
cient to observe here from our author, that this is
paralleled very fitly with that of St. James, Be
DOERS of the word, and not hearers only ; and
with the express sayings of Christ himself in Matt.
vii. 21, 24. John xiv. 21. and xiii. 17. Now it is
plain that love is the fulfilling of the law under the
new evangelical dispensation ; and that the law is
fulfilled hence in one word. And this he farther
corroborates from another passage in the same Epi
stle, expounding SiKaioa-vvtj by Sucaiaxris, that the anti
thesis may more clearly appear, and so making the
DR. GEORGE BULL. US
sense to run thus: Know ye not, that to whom ye 1669.
yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye
are, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto
justification, that is life eternal, chap. vi. 16.
Thus in St. Paul's justification by faith, and not The ground
by legal works, explained according to the analogy ner of™
of his own writings, and of the other Scriptures of speaking"
the New Testament. Which done, he proceedeth
to inquire into the ground of this manner of speak
ing. And this, without doubt, must be because
faith is the beginning and root of all evangelical
righteousness, and the first principle of all true reli
gion, Heb. xi. 6, without which, no saving virtue is
or can be in man ; and which, not being obstructed,
will kindly draw after it all the rest of the virtues
as they are in Christ. For if we believe in him, we
are thereby led cheerfully to obey him, and to sub
mit to his discipline, and to his wise and holy insti
tutions.
XXVI. But besides this, there are two reasons The first
why St. Paul, in describing the condition required st^auT 5
on our part for salvation, maketh use of faith. And ^iSte
these are, 1. That he might express to us the easi- the condi.-
tion requir-
ness of the condition. 2. That he might thence ex- ed from us.
elude all human merit. As to the easiness of the
condition on man's part, for obtaining justification,
it was impossible to express it more emphatically,
than by faith. For what can be more easy, than to
believe; especially when there is all the reason in
the world for our belief; and where, not to believe,
is the greatest folly and insensibility imaginable?
Or what, again, can contribute more to depress the
merit of all flesh, and to exclude all boasting, than
i
114 THE LIFE OF
1669. to ascribe nothing to what we do, even in that
~~ which we do, but to give the sole honour of all to
the grace of God in Christ ; into which we cannot
be initiated but by faith ? So that as the new cove
nant is more easy than the old ; if in the old there
might be some pretence of meriting, there can be
none at all in the new. Whence, both to express
how much greater facility there is of evangelical
than of /^/justification ; and to make void all the
pretensions of man, by virtue of his own perform
ances ; there is here given such an interpretation of
those words of Moses and St. Paul, Levit. xviii. 5.
Deut. xxx. 11, 12, 14. Rom. x. 5, 10. which describe
the righteousness both of the Law and of the Gospel,
and compare them together, as to shew the real and
distinct ground of each, and to manifest wherein the
prerogative of one revelation above the other, doth
properly consist. The sum of which is this : " The
" righteousness," he saith, " which is of the law,
" prescribeth very many and grievous command-
" ments, but containeth no sufficient promises to
" encourage a man to the obedience of them ; but
" that which is of faith, prescribeth only a few and
" easy commandments, such as in themselves are
" highly recommendable, and suited to the perfec-
" tion of our natures ; and exciteth us also to the
" performance thereof by the greatest and most cer-
" tain promises, and by the assurance of all those
" helps at hand, that we can even wish for or desire."
And the foundation of all this he makes to be a
steadfast belief, that it is possible for a man to ascend
into heaven ; and that even notwithstanding that he
may have descended into the deep, he must yet re
turn again. All which is demonstrated to us by the
DR. GEORGE BULL. 115
history of our Saviour's ascension, as is here shewn : 1669.
and no less likewise by that of his death and resur-~
rection, being so convincingly attested. So that
whoever shall doubt of this matter, he may even as
well think to bring Christ himself down from hea
ven, who is thither ascended ; or else to deny that
Christ was ever put to death in the flesh, and raised
again from the dead by the Spirit. Wherefore the
resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ into hea
ven, being once firmly believed, the whole substance
of Christian religion is made thereby most easy : so
that we may truly then say, his commandments arc
not grievous ; for to him that believeth are all things
made easy. And this is the victory that overcometh
the world, according as the Holy Ghost witnesseth,
even our faith. Which victory is therefore ascribed
to faith, because it is faith that both encourageth us
to the battle, and assisteth us in it with the whole
divine armour; and maketh the grace of God, the
merit of Christ, and the aid of his Spirit, to be
herein all in all.
And this faith expressing evangelical obedience, The second
doth moreover exclude all merit : because, 1. It sup- faithTs' used
poseth the revelation, and calling on God's part, first ^
granted to man out of mere grace, before his per- obedience-
forming any obedience to God ; and that therefore
he doth perform that obedience, which is expressed
by the word of faith, not by his own might and
strength, but through God preventing him with his
love and mercy, and graciously revealing his mind
to him. 2. Because it not only supposeth a divine
revelation, but also such promises as may excite a
person to set about these works, which he would
never otherwise have attempted, had he been never-
I 2
116 THE LIFE OF
1669. somuch before persuaded of his duty so to do. The
~~ texts brought by him for confirmation and illustra
tion hereof, are these, viz. 2 Pet. i. 4. and 1 Pet. i.
23. compared with James i. 18. Also St. Peter's
doxology, 1 Pet. i. 3. and Abraham's blessing, Gal.
iii. 14. which are very express in this case, and may
receive farther light from Heb. xii. 2. 3. Because
so far as it regardeth the promise, it expecteth no
reward but only from the free undeserved grace of
God promising it. And this he taketh to be the
chief reason why the Holy Ghost is wont to express
the Gospel-obedience by faith, to shew that this
obedience which we yield through faith, doth not
obtain salvation sua vi aid merito, "by its own
" efficacy or merit," but vi pacti, " by virtue of the
" covenant," or free promise ; which by faith is ap
prehended. Texts for confirming and illustrating
this, by him made use of, are these, viz. Gal. iii. 18.
Rom. iv. 13, 16. This for faith.
HOW the XXVII. As to works, and the ambiguity in the
term works t* i •
is to be in- use of this term, as sometimes opposed to faith, he
£• c<mt«£ nex* proceedetk to shew, from the whole intent and
scope of St. Paul, in his disputation with the Jews
and Judaizing Christians, both in his Epistle to the
Romans, and in that to the Galatians, that he and
St. James are perfectly of a mind ; that the works
excluded by one, are also no less excluded by the
other, and on the contrary ; and that to understand
what is meant by works, in the writings of the
apostles, we must have a regard to the controversies
which were then on foot. In proving this, he is
very large and clear: and particularly, occasion is
taken by him, from the divine sermon of our Lord
DR. GEORGE BULL. 117
upon the mount, to state this matter with all ex- 1669.
actness, and to demonstrate the conformity of the
design, both of the Master, and of his disciples ; as
proceeding upon the very same principles, eyeing the
very same objections and prejudices, and carrying
on together the very same cause, even that of evan
gelical righteousness, notwithstanding some differ
ence of style and method. Hereby is given us a
noble prospect of the Christian religion ; and a most
delightful view withal of those bright and gracious
works, which follow the blessed that die in Christ
for their justification, is there faithfully represented
to the reader.
But here, above all, it is necessary that the works Works
which are thus graciously received of God for Christ'
sake, forasmuch as they are wrought by the opera- lan
tion of his own Spirit, be rightly distinguished from^°™raU
all other works, let their appearance be never so works-
great and good ; which, however they may justify
us before men, can have no share in justifying us
before God. And this is done so well in this dis
course, and in the two vindications of it, as it will
be hard for any to mistake the one for the other,
that will mind but a little what is herein so very
clearly delivered. For as there is a living and a
dead faith, so likewise there are living and dead
works ; which must by no means be confounded.
As to faith, it is certainly dead without works ; and
no less certainly are works dead without faith : the
separation of one from the other, is almost like the
separation of the soul from the body.
Whence there can be no doubt, upon the reason- Faith and
ings of this treatise, but that faith and works, or Sute the"
the works of faith, or faith working by love,
118 THE LIFE OF
1669. faith and repentance, are properly the terms of
"the evangelical covenant; according to which, a
man is accepted and justified of God. As to faith,
there can be here no controversy, that being al
lowed by all.
AH sort of As to works, if St. Paul again may be allowed to
excluded be his own interpreter, there will be no great, if any,
difficulty in the matter, as our author fully proveth.
For the true state of the case, according to him, is
this : The Gospel of Jesus Christ did, from its very
first preaching, labour under this great prejudice
from the Jews, that it did contradict the religion
and the law given them of God, by the hands of
Moses, the mediator thereof, and confirmed to them
by many and great miracles. Against this calumny,
our Lord expressly defended himself in that most
divine sermon of his upon the mount, shewing how
he came not to dissolve or to destroy, but to fulfil
and perfect the law : both by explaining those things
in it more clearly, which had never before been
explained, and by strengthening it with some more
exact rules ; and then also by inclining our minds to
the obedience thereof, by the greatness and certainty
of the promises, and even by the sealing, moreover,
of the Holy Ghost. This is for the moral. And as
for the ritual part of the law, that was by Christ so
consummated, as to cease when the substance there
of appeared in him. This, nevertheless, the Jews
were riot willing to understand, as not discerning
the end and purpose of God in giving the law, but
concluding that it was to be everlasting; and that
even as to all the ceremonials too therein contained.
And he sheweth us how this prejudice continued,
even with them that were converted to the faith of
DR. GEORGE BULL. 119
Christ : so that there was need of an apostolical
council to oppose it, and to determine for the Christ
ian liberty against the Mosaical servitude. And
that which both Christ and the whole college of his
apostles did, is but prosecuted more at large by St.
Paul, as he proveth against the aforesaid Jewish
prejudice, when he writeth of the Law and the
Gospel, or the works of the law, and the obedience
of faith, and compareth them together. For which,
and for other reasons, he collecteth, that St. Paul
cannot mean all sorts of works, when he excludeth
them from justifying; but only some sort of them,
as works of the Mosaical law.
Now the works rejected from justification by the What sort
1 o T-» i • i • • i« • i * i • i °^ works
apostle St. Paul, in his vindicating the most high rejected
preeminence and prerogatives of the Gospel, are, ficti
according to our author, 1. The ritual ones, which
the ceremonial law appointed, and which Christ ful
filled. 2. The moral ones, before and without the
grace of the Gospel, whether in the state of the law,
or of nature. 3. All works of Judaical righteous
ness, both legal and traditional, as they are delivered
by the Jewish doctors, and by the strictest Pharisees
insisted on. 4. All manner of works whatsoever not
founded upon Christ as the only Mediator ; and
which without respect to the covenant of grace esta
blished in his blood, put in any but the least pre
tence to the attainment of salvation. And none of
any of these are set up by his brother apostle, as is
evident from his whole Epistle. And, on the con
trary, St. Paul is so far from denying, that moral
works, proceeding from the grace of the Gospel, do
by virtue of the Gospel-covenant effectually contri
bute to a man's eternal justification and salvation,
120 THE LIFE OF
669. that he is almost wholly taken up in demonstrating
~it ; which is shewn at large in seven chapters of this
discourse. And this is the very thing that is con
tended for by St. James. And the foundation of
them both is our Saviour's sermon aforesaid, which
both s beginneth and * endeth herewith ; and is
throughout a plain demonstration, that there can be
no true justification under the Gospel, or attainment
of blessedness, but by obedience as well as faith, and
by the following of Christ ; and that consequently,
not only works of righteousness are required in
order to it, but even such as surpass the righteous
ness of the very strictest of those that are under the
law. This is the substance of the second disserta
tion : in which there are also several curious and
learned discourses for illustration of the subject,
concerning the preeminence of the evangelical dis
pensation above the legal, of the perfection of the
Christian rule, of the mistakes about it, of the Jew
ish notions of justification, and of several other mat
ters interspersed, which will deserve the attention
of a careful reader.
XXVIII. About a year after this book was printed
the Har. and published, there was sent a copy of it, with mar-
senTtothe ginal annotations and animadversions to the author,
author. after it had passed through several other hands be
fore. They were written by a certain divine, who
was altogether unknown to him. As he received
them from his diocesan and patron, he set himself
earnestly to consider them, and to review what he
had printed.
s Matt. v. 3. &c. l Chap. vii. 24. &c.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 121
In the year 1671, or thereabouts, the Animnd- 1671.
versions upon his ffarmonia, &c., which he had
some time before received by the hands of
Nicholson, were discovered to him to have been Mr- Charles
Gataker.
written by Mr. Charles Gataker, the son of that
learned critic, Mr. Thomas Gataker of London,
author of the Dissertatio de Stylo Novi Testamenti,
&c., who was a member of that unlawful assembly
of divines that met at Westminster, 1643, and was
preparing to publish, after another scheme, an
Harmony also of the Two Apostles, James and Paul,
a little before he died ; with whose papers the son
being assisted, thought himself more than able to
deal with our author, and even to overthrow his
whole foundation.
How well Mr. Gataker hath succeeded therein, The sum of
let any one judge, after reading over all the ani mad- aversions.
versions which he hath made, and comparing them
with the book animadverted upon. After which, if
he be not satisfied enough on which side the truth
lieth, he may go on to read the reply to them ; but
if he be, he may save himself that labour. Now, the
sum of what is contained in these animadversions
may amount to thus much ; It is not fit, he thinks, Animad. i.
to explain St. Paul by St. James, as supposing this
would be to make a single passage in the one, the
standard whereby to interpret a great many in the
other. Nor is he willing to allow of any obscurity
at all in St. Paul's expressions ; but contendeth for
the plainness and fulness of his arguments in this
case, against the doctrine explained and defended
according to St. James, in our author's Harmony
of the Apostles. He is not at all pleased with the Amman, z.
term of fides formata or animated faith ; because it
122 THE LIFE OF
1671. seemeth to make charity the soul of faith, or its
constitutive form ; and because the said term is
taken up by the schoolmen, whom he inveigheth
against as the great corrupters of the Gospel in this
Animad. point. He chargeth the harmonist with confound
ing the "terms of Scripture, and with not reaching
the sense of a common x Greek particle. He will
not hear of the imputation of reward as a part of
justification ; nor is he content to have faith so far
degraded as to be accounted only a condition of the
Gospel-covenant, for he will have it to be a great
deal more, even a real and efficacious cause of the
righteousness obtained by Christ, or a causal energy
5. in justifying a sinner. He distinguisheth betwixt
the being accepted by God, and being justified by
him ; and granteth Cornelius to have been indeed
accepted, but denieth him to have been justified,
6. because of his good works. He alloweth not, that
justification is properly meant by the sprinkling of
Christ's blood, but will have sanctification referred
Animad. 7. to by it, in 1 Pet. i. 2. and other places. He denieth
justification to be the same with remission of sins ;
and is positive that justification is nowhere in
Scripture attributed to repentance. Nevertheless he
denieth not that repentance and faith are the two
conditions of the Gospel which Christ had joined
together, and which none ought to put asunder.
Animad. g. He disputeth not the obligation to repentance laid
upon us ; but maintaineth, however, that a man may
be justified by faith, who shall want the opportunity
of bringing forth the fruits of repentance, being pre-
. 9. vented by death. He defendeth the instrumentality
bv \oyi£f(rd(ii and AiKiiiocrvvr)v.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 123
of faith, understanding by it, a certain influence 1671.
appointed by God for the obtaining of righteous-
ness. He contendeth for the English protestant Ani
divines, that they have not suffered themselves to
be transported too far in their disputes with the
papists about this article. By the distinction of a Animad.
twofold righteousness, the one of Christ imputed to
the faithful, and \)j faith obtained; the other of the
faithful, by himself performed, and by works exer
cised and shewn forth ; he laboureth to surmount
the difficulty of Christ's sermon on the mount, as an
authentic exposition and declaration of the moral
law, and his establishment thereof for his own law,
by tempering it with evangelical grace. Moreover, Animad.
he distinguished! a twofold law of Christ, the one
the moral law of God, the other the law of faith :
and maintaineth, that a true and living faith is the
only condition of justification according to the evan
gelical law of Christ, as contradistinct to the moral.
He defineth saving faith to be a lively inclination Animad.
of the will, that is directed by the understanding
now irradiated by the light of the Gospel, and moved
by the Holy Ghost to trust in God through Christ
the Mediator for eternal salvation. He contendeth, Animad.
that Christ's description of the day of judgment,
in Matt. xxv. is parabolical; and that no decisive
argument can thence be brought for the manner
of his proceeding in that day. Yea, he insisteth,
that if we are to be justified in this life after the
same manner we shall be judged according to this
parable, we must consequently be justified by works
alone, without faith. His way of reconciling St. Paul
with St. James, is by the distinction of a twofold
justification, as respecting a twofold accusation,
124 THE LIFE OF
1671. according to the different conditions of the cove-
~~nant of works, and the covenant of grace. For he
maintaineth, that we are accused before God, either
as sinners or as unbelievers ; and that we are justi
fied against the first accusation by faith alone, laying
hold on the grace and righteousness of Christ : and
against the second, by works, and not by faith only,
as these are the signs and evidences of our being
nimad. true believers. He objecteth against the complex
notion of faith, as inclusive of hope and charity
with good works ; that it is plainly contrary to
St. Paul's foundation, who acknowledgeth no other
but faith in the blood of Christ, without works : and
therefore, without a contradiction to himself, cannot
nimad. be understood to speak of a faith with works. He
disputeth about the perfection of the law of Moses,
and saith, that the law which is to be the rule of
the last judgment, can be 110 other than a rule of
nimad. perfect obedience. He derideth the distinction of
justification in the sight of God, and before the
nimad. world. The only reason for which he will allow
St. Paul to deny that a sinner may be justified by
the law of Moses, is the most perfect and absolute
righteousness which he asserteth to be required by
it, as a condition of justification ; which condition no
nimad. man can perform. He is very positive, that St. Paul
had no intent to make mention of the defect of the
law, and that he could draw no argument from the
weakness of it against justification, though he might
against sanctification, by it. He saith, that the
grace of God, for the observance of the law, was not
denied by the very Pharisees themselves ; and that
none, either Jews or Gentiles, did ever think they
could be justified by works without God's grace;
DR. GEORGE BULL. 125
even the heathens being so wise as to acknowledge 1671.
y no man good without a divine genius assisting
him. And he concludeth that St. Paul doth speak
only of Abraham, David, and such others, who were
justified by the mercy of God through Christ, to
whom God imputed righteousness without works.
He is exceedingly displeased with those who make Animad.
the promises and threatenings of the law to be only
temporal ; and chargeth this opinion with down
right blasphemy, and with contradicting the express
words of Christ, Luke xvi. 29- and John v. 39. In Animad.
a word, he is very earnest for the perfection of the
law given by Moses, in opposition to the several
infirmities objected against it ; and argueth for its
fitness to produce true and genuine piety, from the
book of Deuteronomy, and from the Psalms. And Animad.
2 3.
in the close of all, he severely animadverteth upon
an appeal of our author to the judgment of the
Church of England in her Xlth Article, charging
him with interpolating her doctrine, and the holy
Scripture also ; whereby he means, corrupting and
depraving it by his additions. This is a most heavy
charge against him ; and his proofs ought to be very
plain. The best cause in the world may be run
down with clamour and confidence: but truth is
never better supported, than by being modestly
and simply proposed, with the arguments for and
against it fairly represented, without reflection upon
any for not thinking after the same manner with
us. But this is not the method of the animad-
verter.
It were truly much to have been wished, that soThecharac-
masterly a writer as Mr. Bull, had met with, upon anr;mad.e
„ v v s. ' » & « > a ' verier.
Y \u>pis oaLpoifos ovotis ayavos.
126 THE LIFE OF
his first setting out into the world, a more consider
able adversary to manage, that so the cause might
have been carried on with greater advantages, for
advancing the truth simply, without respect to per
sons or parties ; and that a great genius might not
have been forced to condescend to such little mat
ters, as he could expect to receive no honour from,
if he conquered. Mr. Gataker appeareth to have
been a person of great violence in his temper, but
one well-intentioned, and a very zealous protestant ;
and had he had but more coolness of thought, and
had he withal read more of the ancients, and fewer
of the moderns, he would, I believe, have made
no inconsiderable writer. But he not allowing him
self time to think sedately, or even to examine
sufficiently the sense of an author who pleased him
not ; being fired with a zeal for what he took for
truth, from the systems which he had greedily
sucked in, as authentic explications of the Gospel,
entirely lost himself hereby, and exposed the very
cause he undertook to defend. However, in this
he is to be commended, that he was content to
have his thoughts communicated to his superiors
in the church, and to the author of the book which
he attacked, without making them more public by
the press. And bishop Nicholson was also certainly
in the right, not to press Mr. Bull to publish the
answer which he had prepared, notwithstanding
all the foul language and provocation that was
him.
Mr. Bull's XXIX. However, because nothing that was more
motives for
taking so considerable did yet appear objected against this
tire of Mr. wor^ ; and because he thought there did lie on him
DR. GEORGE BULL. 127
an obligation both for his own sake, and the truth's 1671.
sake, to vindicate himself and his book from those Gataker's
harsh and uncharitable censures which were cast avers
upon him and it ; and to endeavour to put a stop
to those loud clamours most unjustly raised and
fomented by others of the same fiery zeal against a
proceeding of the greatest fairness and ingenuity : as
also because the very sending him that printed copy
of his Harmonia, &c., which came from Mr. Charles
Gataker, stuffed throughout with his remarks and
reflections written on the margins of it, together
with other miscellany notes relating to this contro
versy, added both before and after the book by him,
was looked upon by Mr. Bull, when he first received
it, no other than a command of his spiritual supe
rior, who sent it him, to undertake the answering of
whatever therein might deserve any consideration ;
notwithstanding that this was not pressed upon him
at all, forasmuch as the bishop would often tell him,
that there was no great matter in these Animadver
sions, and that he himself made little or no account
of them : he was yet resolved to steal some time
from his other business, that he might shew the
emptiness and the inconsistency of the arguments
brought against him by this confident writer ; which
he hath done very largely and fully, and inter
spersed a great deal of curious and solid learning,
wherever any occasion doth present itself: and hath
frequently taken the hint from very trifling objec
tions, to strengthen his former works, by several
most material considerations and convincing argu
ments.
1675.
He very nervously defendeth the proposition of AH abstract
St. James, and his explication of it; and
128 THE LIFE OF
1675. bv many arguments, that it is far more convenient
in an- and reasonable, that St. Paul should be interpreted
them.10 by us, according to him, than on the contrary. He
son'dly vindicatetli the phrase of fides formata, used
sitra-
swer to
Answer to by him, against his adversary's objections ; and
*' handles the question with great accuracy of judg
ment, Whether charity may rightly be called the
form of justifying faith ? which is decided by him
Answer to affirmatively. He is full and clear in determining
Animad. 3. TFT-T 11 r • •
the question, Whether the conferring a right to the
kingdom of heaven, be properly an act of evangeli
cal justification? And here he shews, against the
cavils of the animadverter, how the notion of justifi
cation, according to the Gospel, doth include in it
necessarily the acceptance of a man before God to
eternal life and salvation, or the imputation of re-
Answer to ward. He proves the animadverter to be an inno-
Animad. 4.
vator in the opinion which he would set up, and
that he widely departs both from the Church of
England, and from all other reformed churches, by
his attributing to faith a causal energy of righteous
ness, distinct from that which is proper to it as a
Answer to condition of the evangelical covenant. He defends
'' his paraphrase of St. Peter's words recorded in Acts
x. 34, 35. with much strength against the weak and
Answer to peevish efforts made to oppose it : and his internre-
Animad.
6, 7. tation of another passage of the same apostle, 1 Pet.
i. 2. not only by the authority of celebrated com
mentators upon it, but even of Calvin himself: the
other testimonies also of Scripture, which had been
brought by him, to evidence that some certain works
are prescribed as altogether needful to justification,
as particularly, repentance, and the fruits of it, are
strenuously vindicated by him, against the negative
DR. GEORGE BULL. 129
of his opposer. Whereupon there are four questions l67.5-
discussed by him very distinctly, to set the whole
matter in its true light, viz. 1. Whether there be
any condition, properly so called, of the evangeli
cal covenant, which is not likewise a condition
of evangelical justification ? This Mr. Gataker af
firms ; and Mr. Bull denies, and proves the contrary.
2. Whether even granting that there is not one
and the same condition of tliese two, it be not yet
certain, that faith and repentance are the condi
tions of one and the same benefit, namely, of evan
gelical justification ? Mr. Bull justifies the affirma
tive hereof, and clears it even to a demonstration.
3. Whether forgiveness of sins doth enter into the
notion or definition of evangelical justification ?
The affirmative also of this is held by Mr. Bull, as
the negative is by both the Gatakers, father and
son ; and is defended by many illustrious passages
of holy writ with a great deal of force and perspi
cuity, not without sufficient answers to the objec
tions made by either or both of them. 4. Whether
even granting that forgiveness of sins be not ne
cessarily included in the notion of justification
evangelical, it be not yet certain, that there is one
and the same condition of both benefits, namely, of
forgiveness and justification ? And this is deter
mined in the affirmative by our author, even from
the very concessions of his adversary, while writing
against him. After this, he distinguisheth very Answer to
rightly betwixt the internal and the external works '
of repentance: and demonstrates, that the former
of these are absolutely necessary, even to that which
is called the first justification. Then he disputeth Answer to
against his adversary, about his notion of the instru-
K
ISO THE LIFE OF
1675. mentality of faith, in this great affair; and he dis-
tinguisheth also here betwixt a physical and a moral
instrument ; and maketh it evident, that faith can
not, with any propriety, be said to be a physical
instrument of justification, or even so much as a
moral one, without a manifest contradiction to the
whole tenor of the New Testament. According to
which, it is demonstrated by him, that if by a moral
instrument be meant a condition, or influence, for
the obtaining of justification according to God's
appointment, then the conversion of a sinner to
God, out of the love of God and charity, hath as
proper a moral instrumentality to this end, as faith
hath, according to the divine appointment, as mani
fested in the Gospel. Upon which head he hath
likewise some curious and useful observations con
cerning the diversity of phrases and terms used by
the sacred writers in this matter, and the reasons
Answer to thereof. He proceedeth next to clear himself from
Animad.iOi
the imputation of having censured the English di
vines for their precipitancy or inadvertency in hand
ling this subject, or at least for their incautious
management hereof, so as to give some colour to the
excesses of the Antinomians, Libertines, and Fami-
lists : and not only sheweth the gross mistake of his
adversary, in taking what was meant of some foreign
protestant divines, to concern properly the divines
of the Church of England ; but retorteth closely
upon himself, that very thing which he so warmly
An^r to complaineth of to him. After this, he discourseth
Animad.ii. , .
against the ammadverter's opinion of the imputation
of Christ's righteousness, and discovers the several
very absurd and dangerous consequences which
necessarily accompany it. And he sheweth in parti-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 131
cular, how inconsistent such a notion is, either with 1675-
the remission of sin on God's part, or with repent
ance on ours; and how it altogether taketh away
the necessity even of faith itself, in order to justifi
cation : yea, that this being granted, it will thence
necessarily follow, that a man's justification is even
before his faith, with other such like absurdities.
And, lastly, he proveth how this notion quite sub
verts the catholic doctrine of the universal propiti
ation made by the death of Christ for the sins of the
whole world ; upon which doctrine the very preach
ing of the Gospel doth absolutely depend. After
wards he answereth also the several passages of
Scripture which are usually brought for such a sort
of imputation, by some superficial considerers, in
derogation of the true terms required of God in the
evangelical covenant. Then he pushes home his Answer to
argument against the solifidians ; that whosoever is
justified of God by Christ, is absolved by the law of
Christ ; but no man is absolved by the law of Christ
by faith only, without works ; and consequently no
man is so justified. And in vindicating this against
his adversary, he exposeth the vanity of all his argu
ments to the contrary ; and settcth forth in their
proper colours the fond and erroneous opinions by
him entertained. Particularly he takes a great deal Answer to
. Animad. 13.
of pains in refuting a fundamental error or this
writer, concerning the primary act of justifying
faith, or the ratio formalis of it, which he maketh
merely to consist in affiance, strictly so called ; that
is, an act of recumbency upon the merits of Christ,
and his imputed righteousness, and in laying hold
of the evangelical promises. Whereupon he treats
at large of the difference between fides and fiducia ;
K 2
1675- and having formed several conclusions or theses
concerning these, he unfoldeth this matter very dis-
Answer to tiiictly and clearly. And thus having hereby over
turned the main pillar of antinomianism, chiefly
founded in an equivocal sense of words, he next
proceedeth to maintain his argument taken from
the divine proceedings at the last day, against the
objections of this animadverter : and on this occasion
sheweth the emptiness of his distinction of a right
ad rem, and a right in re, which he had brought to
evade the force of that argument. For Mr. Bull
proves to him, upon his own very principles, that
whosoever hath a title to any thing, must also have
a title in it ; and on the contrary : so that if charity
hath a right or title in the kingdom of heaven, it
must also have the same to it, by virtue of the evan-
Answer to gelical covenant ; even as faith. He examineth after
Animad.i5.
this, both this and his father's method of harmoniz
ing St. James and St. Paul, being the same with
that of Placaeus. This he doth with great exact
ness, and upon the review of the whole, compares
their method with his own, that it might the more
evidently appear which of them hath the advantage.
Whereupon he defends against all the subtle attacks
of his adversary, his own opinion concerning faith
being always taken in a complex sense, as compre
hensive of hope and charity with good works, when
soever, in Scripture, justification is attributed to it.
Answer to And argueth, that his method of reconciling- those
Animad.i6. &
apostles cannot be new, or of his own invention,
which was approved by some of the first reformers ;
and since that, by many eminent divines of the
reformation. Upon which he produceth a most
noble testimony of Zwinglius to his purpose, out of
DR. GEORGE BULL. 133
that reformer's commentaries concerning the true 1675.
and false religion ; and sheweth, that this accepta
tion of faith, according to the complex notion there
of, was so generally followed heretofore by our pro-
testant divines, and so well known to all, as it gave
occasion to Estius, in his controversies with us, to
object, that most of our writers did make faith and
charity to be the same thing. And then he maketh Answer to
, . Animad.i?.
his reader see how the state of the question is, by
the animadverter, quite mistaken concerning the
perfection of the Mosaical law. Which law Mr.
Bull denies to be a law of most perfect obedience,
in the same sense as the Gospel is so. Where, by a
law of perfect obedience, it is plain, that he mean-
eth nothing else, but such a law as requireth of man
the most perfect and complete righteousness, as a
necessary condition of salvation ; according to which,
it would be impossible for any one man to be saved.
Whence there cannot be a greater absurdity, he
says, than to suppose the rule of God's proceedings
in the day of judgment, to be this law of perfect
obedience : as nothing also is more unscriptural,
than to suppose, that there is any one law which is
to be the standard for all, in that day ; seeing that
every one, according to St. Paul, shall then be tried,
according to the law and dispensation under which
he lived. Now, he alloweth the law of Moses to Answer to
have had a proper justification belonging to it ; and
hereupon confirmeth a former distinction of his con
cerning a justification in respect of this life, and
that which is to come, or to the things of this mor
tal state, and of that which is eternal ; or before
God, and before the world ; after the authority of Answer to
Ammad. 1 9.
St. Ambrose and St. Augustin. Yea, by many argu-
134 THE LIFE OF
1675. ments, he proveth, that when St. Paul denies any
~ man to be justified by the law of Moses, the true
ground of his argumentation is, that under the law
there is, strictly, no manner of true justification, or
remission of sins, which reacheth beyond this life ;
that is, under the law, in that relation wherein it is
considered by the apostle. This he proveth to be the
very foundation on which St. Paul, in his Epistles,
buildeth, and answers the arguments for the con-
Answer to trary opinion defended by his adversary. Moreover,
°' he defendeth his explication of this apostle's argu
ment, drawn from the weakness of the law of Moses,
to deliver a man from the dominion of sin, by far
ther proofs of that matter, and answers to the ex
ceptions and objections made against what was by
Answer to njm m jjjg Harmony advanced. And whereas Mr.
Animad.ai. ^
Bull was accused of Socinianism, for maintaining,
that the law of Moses, having not the promise of
eternal life, was not so very fit to produce in man a
fervent, constant, and indefatigable pursuit of virtue
and piety ; he at once fully clears himself from that
charge, and proveth also, that the contrary opinion
followed by his adversary, which makes life eternal
to have been promised in the Old Testament, strictly
taken as such, was heretofore condemned in Pela-
gius by the catholics ; and that this was downright
Pelagianism, in the opinion of St. Augustin, that
great asserter of the grace of God, as it was so also
Answer io esteemed by St. Jerom. Moreover, whereas he had
Animad.22.
asserted, that this law, strictly considered as such,
containing only temporal promises and threatenings,
was thereby apt to beget in men but low and earthly
thoughts, he explains his opinion so as to remove all
dangerous consequences from thence, and defendeth
DR. GEORGE BULL. 135
it by the authority of St. Augustin, and even of St. 1675.
Paul himself, in several most express passages to
this purpose. And in the last place, he most evi-Answerto
Ammad.23.
dently proveth, that the true and genuine sense of
the Church of England, in her eleventh Article, was
by him acknowledged in his Harmony; and that
the sense which the animadverter affixeth to it, for
being diametrically opposite to the exposition there
of by the church herself, as also to Scripture and
right reason, ought to be rejected by every true son
thereof. This is the substance of what he replied
to Mr. Gataker, and which might serve for an answer,
not only to him, but to two or three others besides,
who had publicly animadverted on his book.
XXX. Whether this Mr. Gataker did live to see Some far-
Mr. Bull's answer to his animadversions, I am not Tatk>n« of
able to learn z. Nor am I certain whether ever any ^er'
thing was printed by him of his own, for the cause »age
of thi
he appeared so zealous in, as an answer to Mr. Bull, troversy.
I know, indeed, he published a certain posthumous
piece of his father's, not long before, that was left
by him imperfect on this very subject a ; for which
he is chastised b by Mr. Bull, as one who consulted
not the reputation of a parent, who by his great
z [Bull published his Examen Censures in 1675, Charles Ga
taker died in 1680.]
a [This was published in 1670, and entitled, Antidote against
Error, concerning Justification, with The Way of Truth and Peace,
or a Reconciliation of the holy Apostles St. Paul and St. James
concerning Justification. The first was by Thomas Gataker, the
second by his son Charles. The latter also wrote Ichnographia,
Doctrina de Justification secundum typum in Monte, which
was published in 1681.]
b Examen Censurse Resp. ad Animad. 7. n. 8.
136 THE LIFE OF
1675. critical knowledge and other learning had made
himself more considerable, than to deserve that
such-like crudities should be put forth under his
name, at least by a son. It is true, Mr. Bull men-
tioneth a friendly conference between two consider
able divines about the subject of justification, which
he saw in manuscript ; wherein the elder Gataker's
scheme of this matter was very ingeniously deli
neated, and wrought with no small care and pains ;
but which yet, as to the main, proved not satisfac
tory to either of these learned men. And it is no
less true, that another of Mr. Bull's adversaries doth
expressly mention a printed discourse of this younger
Gataker's, seen by him, c Wherein he signifying
his dislike of Mr. Bull's, propounds a third way
to reconcile the apostles Paul and James. But
that he did only signify his dislike of Mr. Bull's
way, without entering at all into the merits of the
cause; and propose another way, without troubling
himself much for an answer to the arguments brought
for that which he professed to dislike, seemeth very
probable ; both because Mr. Bull, in his Examen,
never takes the least notice of any such discourse ;
which he can hardly be supposed to have utterly
forgotten or neglected, had there been found therein
but any appearance of argument against the scheme
that was by him so learnedly and fully defended
against this very writer ; since he is known to have
condescended so far, by imposing even a penance
both on his own and his reader's patience, as to ex
amine minutely all that he could find urged against
c An Endeavour to rectify some prevailing Opinions, &c. Lon
don, 1671. Pref.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 137
him, whether considerable or inconsiderable, even 1675.
so as not to slip the most trifling objections and
petty cavils of this eager controvertist, inasmuch as
he designed it to be a thorough vindication of his
Harmony, and would not have one objection what
soever left by him unexamined and unconsidered :
and also because the learned writer, who makes
mention of this discourse of Mr. Charles Gataker,
not only judges him mistaken in the interpretation
of both the apostles, but owns, that Mr. Bull had
said enough, in his Harmonia Apostolica, to make
it appear, that he hath not given the right sense
so much as of one of them. Now it appear-
eth, that Mr. Gataker published his discourse of
Justification at the same time that Mr. Bull was
writing against him, or a little before, that is, in or
about the year 1670'1; forasmuch as we find it men
tioned the next year, by the aforesaid author, who
gives his character of it, and acquaints us withal,
that it came not forth till after he had finished his
own reflections upon Mr. Bull's book. So that it
must needs have been printed several months after
the publication of the Harmonia ; and yet at far
thest in the beginning of the year 1671. And
therefore, had there been any thing in it worthy
his notice, it could, doubtless, never have escaped
our author's most strict examination.
It must here be confessed, that Mr. Bull, as he A reflection
on Mr.
was a man, and consequently subject to human pas- Bull's ma-
sions, being so highly provoked by the undeserved Ofa;t
treatment of him by Mr. Gataker, and the unfair hltn>
methods which he made use of, doth now and then
d [It was published in 1670.]
138 THE LIFE OF
1675. treat him again with more severity than I could
have wished. This, the natural lire and vivacity of
his temper, with the sense of the injustice done, not
only to himself, but to the cause of truth and reli
gion, seems to have prompted this good man to,
and to have carried him a little too far, in my opin
ion, for the sake of a triumph over his adversary.
For I cannot but think all controversies in matters
of religion are then best handled, and with the
greatest probability of success, when they are man
aged calmly without all particular resentments, and
with all the tenderness that is possible towards
those persons whom we are endeavouring to reclaim
into the way of truth. And that, especially, no
thing can be more unbecoming the character of
divines, than for them who are to be the messengers
of peace to wrangle one with another about the
way ; and in the mean time thereby to neglect the
great things of their message, and such as accom
pany peace. But if, where the provocation was so
excessive, as in this case, and the goodness of his
cause so very clear, and so acknowledged by the
best judges, the zeal of Mr. Bull might sometimes
happen to transport him a little in the very conflict
with his adversary, and cause him to go beyond the
measures of a pacific writer; he was still careful to
adhere most strictly to the truth, without partiality
or respect of persons ; and was ready to alter and
expunge any thing in his writings, that through too
much severity might be apt to give offence, and so
to hinder the good effects of his labour of love for
reconciling persons to the truth. This made him
submit so freely all which he had thoughts of pub
lishing to the censure of his learned friends, that
Dll. GEORGE BULL. 139
they might not only consider the argument, but 1675.
soften also what they should see fit in the expres
sion. And notwithstanding that the elder Gataker
appeareth to have been no less against the opinion
Mr. Bull defended than his son Charles, yet Mr.
Bull treats him with abundance of respect, as often
as he hath occasion to mention him ; giveth the
titles of e dofitissimus and pientissimus to him ;
allows him to have been really a considerable per
son ; and the scheme which he had formed of this
matter, to be at least very ingenious ; saying more
over, that he held his memory in honour, and would
himself, were his son silent in it, proclaim his praise ;
and where he dissents from him, answers his argu
ments without any reflection.
This Mr. Thomas Gataker, when he was young, An account
began to preach upon the Epistle of St. James, in "
the reign of king James the First, this subject b
ing about that time much agitated by some eminent B"n came
. . . . to be en -
divines of our church: and according to his f son's gaged with
relation, seemeth to have preached it through, or to
have given at least a methodical explication of the
whole design thereof, and of the more considerable
parts relating to his purpose. And a little before
the breaking out of the civil wars, when most of the
pulpits of London were hotly contesting and fighting
about the grace of God, and the method of man's
justification by it, he resumed his former task, being
sincerely desirous of reconciling differences, and of
e Respons. ad Animad. 7. and 15.
f A. D. 1617. Aggressus in concionibus B. Jacobi Epistolam
explicare, quod Dei ope methodo accuratissima peregit. Animad.
15. ad Dissert. 2. cap. 3.
140 THE LIFE OF
l675- promoting peace and truth together; for which end,
as he had before preached upon St. James, in like
manner as Mr. Bull also began first with him, he
now proceeded to preach upon St. Paul, and took
also the very same text for his discourse which Mr.
Bull pitched on for his second dissertation. About
the year 1651, the good old man began to look over
his loose papers upon this subject, and the fragments
or heads of his sermons for harmonizing these two
apostles, with a design of fitting for the press, the
substance of what he had occasionally delivered
from the pulpit. But he being now broken, and
very old, was not able to finish what he undertook.
And all his papers falling to his son, upon his death,
which followed very quickly, these were by him,
out of an over-fondness to all his father's perform
ances, published with all their imperfections, to
the no small disparagement both of his own, and
his father's name, as before was hinted.
mania.
XXXI. Not long after this, Mr. Joseph Truman,
motives ot o TVI Q vi C\\ Q f*f"ii"i I £*7* h £*Q fi ^hon i" h o V/~MI TI rroi* I T*S i~ Q Lr<~>v
Cu llldil \Ji C* \j\J\JL\5L llC/dvJ, L I 1 < I J 1 HJ.O y w Ullii d VJ( ( 1 1. i L 1\ t i .
J\l r. A ru-
man's writ- and one also not unacquainted with the ancient Fa-
the Har- thers, who had before written and published a short
discourse concerning the apostle Paul's meaning, of
justification by faith without works% ; finding some
of his opinions therein advanced, to be not only
shaken by the Harmonia Apostolica, but to be in
danger of being perfectly routed ; and perceiving
also that the sentiments contrary to his did very
S [He published in 1669, The Great Propitiation, or Christ's
Satisfaction and Man's Justification by it, with a discourse concern
ing St. Paul's meaning of Justification by Faith; and in 1671, A
Discourse of natural and moral Impotency.'}
DR. GEORGE BULL. 141
much daily prevail, by the reading of that treatise, 1675.
set himself to write an answer in English, to that
part of it which chiefly concerned himself. Which
answer was afterwards published by him, under the
title of An Endeavour to rectify some prevailing
Opinions contrary to the Doctrine of the Church of
England: by the author of The Great Propiti
ation^. In the preface to which, the reader is
made acquainted, " that about half a year after that
" he had published some sermons, entitled The
" Great Propitiation, whereto was added that short
" discourse aforesaid, concerning justification by
"faith, in the sense of St. Paul ; there came forth
" a learned book called Harmonia Apostolica, writ-
" ten by Mr. George Bull, which quite crossing the
" interpretation he had given of St. Paul, he was
" occasioned by some occurrences, which it con-
" cerned not the reader to know, to write the sub-
" stance of those reflections upon it for some private
" use." For he telleth us, they were written with
out any design of printing them, within three months
after the coming forth of the said book ; but were
not published till about two years after, when he
observed how fast some opinions got ground in the
Church of England, contrary to his exposition there
of ; which was attributed by him, in a great measure,
to Mr. Bull, and more especially to the latter part
of his performance.
For Mr. Truman could find nothing to object
against the former part of it, nor even against
several chapters of the latter ; nay, he condemned His cen
sure, how
Mr. Gataker for writing against him in this point, different
h [Published in 1671.]
142 THE LIFE OF
1675. affirming, that he did not give the right interpretation
from that either of St. James or St. Paul ; and for the proof
fu!!.r'!r,?r hereof, he referred his reader to his own discourse
til K I I . (111(1
h°1wfavour- before-mentioned, and even to Mr. Bull also, whom
able to
Mr. Hull, he allowed to have written satisfactorily in many
things, and to have sufficiently refuted his hypothe
sis for the reconciliation of these two apostles, how
ever ingenious this might possibly appear at first
view. Now, nothing could happen more honourable
to Mr. Bull, than this testimony from an adversary
in his favour, recommending his book to be read by
all such as were willing to have a clear and full
view of the controversy ; yielding so great a part of
it to contain a fair explication and vindication of
the truth ; and preferring his performance to that of
one who appeared after him, not without several
considerable advantages and assistances from the
learned notes of an eminent divine, and celebrated
critic, that for many years together had made this
his particular study. Whether ' The Way to Truth
and Peace, which was published under the name
of Mr. Charles Gataker, in order to a reconciliation
between St. Paid and St. James concerning justi
fication, were really his own or his father's, is not
material to be known k: but it is certain that both
Mr. Bull and Mr. Truman did agree in this, that it
was already answered sufficiently before ever it did
appear; and that neither truth nor peace could
solidly be established by the way therein taken.
HOW he These two go more than half way together, being
agreed and • "
disagreed perfectly agreed about faith, and not disagreeing in
with Mr. .
Bull. the exclusion of several sorts of modern reconcilers :
5 London, 410. 1670. k [See p. 135.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 143
but they differ about the law, and the true extent of 1675.
its notion ; or they seem at least to differ more than
perhaps they really do. For that which Mr. Bull
calls ipsissimum Evangelium, or the very Gospel,
is called by Mr. Truman the Law, in the most per
fect sense of it. And hence, according to one, the
Gospel may very truly be said to be a law of most
perfect obedience ; while, according to the other,
the Mosaical law may as truly be said to be such ;
that is, with different respects and views. The one
is very large in shewing the defects of the law, and
how it both wanted an external help for encourage
ment of perfect obedience to it, being the promise
of eternal life ; and an internal one, being the gift
of the Holy Ghost : and the other is no less so, in
shewing the perfection of it, and how it wanted
neither one help nor the other. And as Mr. Bull
hath many strong arguments for the disability of
the law, either to work true sanctification in man,
or to lay hold on eternal life : so hath Mr. Truman
many others for the ability of the same law, as
taken in his sense, in order to attain these very
ends. It is certain, that they had both of them
different views ; but it is not quite so certain that
they both had always different opinions, when they
expressed themselves after different ways. And of
this it were easy to give instances, if it were here
necessary.
But moreover, there \vere besides Mr. Truman, How some
concurred
not a few others, and those both learned and pious, with him in
tlip vcrv ot*~
in Mr. Bull's own judgment, who were not able so fence taken,
perfectly to digest the seventh chapter of his second Mnii'uiT
dissertation, which treateth of the twofold defect of ^other-
the law of Moses, and maintaineth, that this law esteem.
144 THE LIFE OF
1675. cannot absolutely and without any consideration be
~~ called a rule of perfect obedience. Some there
were more violent than the rest, of whom he
complaineth, that they made very tragical outcries
against him, as if by such an hypothesis as this,
" the whole system of orthodox divinity should be
" shaken, yea, broken to pieces, and utterly de-
" stroyed ; and that the very foundations both of
" Law and Gospel were hereby at once undermined
" and overturned." As for them that were not so
outrageous, but shewed themselves to be of a true
Christian temper, and not far from the truth, our
learned harmonist was ready and willing to give
them all the satisfaction that was in his power ; pro
fessing at the same time that he did not insist on
this matter as necessary for the reconciliation of St.
James with St. Paul ; but that he did submit it to
better judgments, having only made the proposal for
the sake of truth and peace, with a desire that it
might be freely and impartially considered. Indeed,
as he proposed his opinion to the learned, not to the
vulgar, by writing in a language which none but the
learned understood ; so he expected, that they who
should undertake to answer his arguments, would
follow also his method therein, and not trouble the
heads of the weak and the unlearned with doubtful
disputations, and matters above their reach to judge
of with any exactness, by appealing to them in their
own native language ; and this when the controversy
was at first otherwise laid, and brought up from the
pulpit, and consequently from the common people,
to be debated and decided by the learned. There
fore he was not at all pleased that Mr. Truman
should bring it down again.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 145
Indeed, it would seem very absurd for any one to
answer a Latin treatise in English ; and especially HOW he
if it were purposely written in Latin, that it might ^J^
not fall promiscuously into the hands of the common ^"'BUI
English readers, for fear of disturbing their brains j^ns
with certain arguments not suited to their capacity ; in i
as plainly was the case of Mr. Bull. But then, on the
other side, it must be owned, that Mr. Truman had
published, the very same year in which Mr. Bull's
Harmonia Apostolica appeared, and some months
too before it, his treatise of the * Great Propitiation,
which had been well received by some learned men
of the Church of England, and particularly by that
great and zealous assertor of primitive antiquity,
bishop Gunning, who for the sake thereof desired
to be acquainted with the author, though a dis
senter. So that he was really the first of the two in
this controversy, wherein they were both engaged
unknown to each other. And besides this, as the
said Harmonia Apostolica was the first-born of
Mr. Bull's productions, so was likewise The Great
Propitiation of Mr. Truman's, and both alike fa
voured by them as such. In the treatise of the
former, which was last printed, we have the sum of
what he preached at several times, set forth for the
use of the learned, together with a very learned
vindication thereof, from Scripture, reason, and anti
quity, in a language and style proper only to them :
but in the treatise of the latter, which was first
printed, there is contained the substance of several
sermons preached upon that great article of our
religion, and made public in the same language in
1 London, 1669.
L
146 THE LIFE OF
1675. which they were preached, for the use of the un-
~~ learned as well as the learned: whence having first
published his opinion in English, both from the pulpit
and the press, Mr. Truman thought he had a right
to vindicate it in the same language, notwithstanding
that the strongest arguments against it were deli
vered in a Latin treatise, to which therefore a Latin
answer was not without reason expected. And far
ther, considering that this matter had been first de
bated by the most learned and pious Dr. Hammond,
in English also, whom Mr. Bull is supposed by this
author to follow ; he concluded to write on in the
vulgar tongue rather than in the learned.
Besides these two, he seemeth to have had a third
motive both for writing against Mr. Bull, and for his
writing against him in English rather than Latin ;
which was, that by exposing certain doctrines and
opinions, as contrary to the doctrine of the Church of
England, which were by the most eminent divines
thereof maintained at that time, and by Mr. Bull then
defended with great learning and force in his said
book, he might under the pretext of rectifying
them, and of composing many differences in opinion,
to use his own words, add some weight to his rea
sons for separation, from the maintainers of them,
and from the society whereof they were members.
For it looks as if it were his design to shew hereby,
that he was no such separatist from the Church
of England, whose doctrines he would appear as
heartily to embrace, as some who lived in her
bosom ; and that many abiding in her ministerial
communion were yet greater nonconformists than
ever he was; while professing themselves to be di
vines of the Church of England, they nevertheless
DR. GEORGE BULL. 147
departed, as he thought, from the very principles on l675-
which the Reformation was founded. It was his
misfortune, upon the Act of Uniformity, not to be
thoroughly satisfied in all that was required of him
for his continuance in the exercise of his ministry ;
and he was jealous of some advances made towards
Socinianism, as well as carrying too high a contro
versy about things in their nature indifferent. But
he endeavoured still to keep a fair correspondence
with the Church of England, to speak of her with
esteem, to make honourable mention of her bishops,
to express himself as one of her members, and
actually to defend lay -communion with her. And
therefore he would not be thought to have written
against her by such an essay as this ; which was very
probably intended by him for his own justification :
and to insinuate that there might be more danger to
be apprehended by the Church of England from a
nonconformity to her doctrines, than from one to her
discipline. These I take to be the chief motives of
his undertaking to write against Mr. Bull and others,
and of making this his public appeal, not in Latin,
as Mr. Bull had done, but in English, as properly
concerning the English Church. I must now give
some account of what he hath performed in this
enterprise, so far as our author is concerned with
him ; without which the history of this controversy,
and consequently of the works of so great a man of
our church, would remain but very imperfect. To
proceed then,
XXXII. Mr. Truman having published about the An account
beginning of the year 1669 his Great Propitiation
aforesaid, wherein the article of justification was fJ
L 2
148 THE LIFE OF
1675. necessarily treated of, for a fuller illustration of the
hhiTa^inTt same he added an Appendix to it, concerning the
^^5'^ meaning of the apostle Paul, in treating this subject;
ofMr.Buii. jn wnjch he will have the apostle to dispute against
justification by perfect obedience to the law, as a thing
impossible to a man in this life ; and our Lord not
to have added any thing new to the law in his
sermon on the mount, but only to have vindicated
it from corrupt interpretations. For without con
sidering at all the infirmity of the law, as being
referred to by the apostle, he insisted that not only
an outward obedience to it was required of God, but
also that which was inward and perfect ; and that
therefore a man was bound by it to live perfectly,
and free from all manner of sin, both outwardly and
inwardly, looking beyond temporal promises and
threats to those that are eternal. And besides this,
he seemed to maintain that a man might be obliged
to do somewhat, which it was not in his power to
do ; and might also be justly punished for not doing
it, where the disability or impotence was not natural,
but proceeded originally from his own fault.
Now when after this another scheme for the inter
pretation of St. Paul was brought forth by Mr. Bull,
which he found to contradict his in some material
points, or at least not to be easily reconcilable with
it, he set himself hereupon to defend his own scheme,
as the only orthodox one, thinking that Mr. Bull
would make an intolerable change in the very sub
stance of the body of divinity. And in this view he
published not very long afterward m, A Discourse
of natural and moral Iwpotency, upon the principles
"i [In 1671.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. H9
laid down in his former discourse; in which some 1675.
chapters of Mr. Bull's second dissertation are indi
rectly attacked. For he looked upon this distinction
to be of such importance in divinity, as that they
who should speak or write of the controversies about
justification, grace, free-will, the law of works, faith,
evangelical perfection, and such like, without keep
ing clear notions about this, would certainly speak
and write like children concerning them, though
otherwise never so capable and learned : as also that
a person but of ordinary understanding, by keeping
to this distinction, might competently satisfy himself
and others (if willing to be satisfied) in such contro
versies as have posed the greatest wits and scholars
that deviate from it. This he hath treated at large
with great metaphysical subtlety for the learned,
and with sufficient plainness in the practical infer
ences for the use of the unlearned. Notwithstanding
which, whatever he might pretend, he appeared to
several to teach here a new divinity, and to deliver
strange opinions and doctrines very remote from the
common sentiments of men, according as he himself
was indeed sensible of beforehand. Wherefore he
prudently abstaineth from mentioning of names, that
none might hereby be provoked against him, as he
was not without reason apprehensive of. And with
out telling his own name, that he might not either
expose himself, or do any prejudice thereby to a cause
he was so fond of; he cared not to let the world
know any more of him, than that he lived obscurely,
and was the author of such a book, as had not been
ill received by the public.
There are two editions of this discourse, which
because they afford an occasion to Mr. Bull of giving
150 THE LIFE OF
>675- us his more mature and accurate thoughts upon so
nice a subject, will deserve not to be forgotten : the
one was taken care of by himself, but the other by a
friend after his decease, with some additions left by
the author under his own hand ; and particularly an
Appendix for farther clearing up and vindicating
the same discourse, in which he declareth his opinion
concerning the propagation of the soul and sin.
This second edition had his name put to it, and his
quality. The principles upon which he here goeth
are these: 1. No man is bound by any law of God
or man, farther than his natural faculties and powers
reach. 2. A man is bound by the law of God, so
far as these natural powers do reach, and his great
est aversation of will to obey the same will not ex
cuse him, but rather add to his inexcusableness.
3. Such an aversation of will in man doth certainly
hinder his compliance with God's commandments,
till God takes it away ; or till by some supereffluence
of grace, which he is not in justice bound to afford,
he overcorneth this reluctance of the will. Whence
this author inferreth, and laboureth to prove, 1. That
a man's culpable impotency lieth only in a disabi
lity to do what he hath a power to do; or in his
not being able to do in one sense, what he can do in
another. And, 2. That the effect of divine grace
consisted! not barely in a man's receiving from God
a power to obey his commands; but in something-
over and beside, to cause a man to do what he is
bound to do, and would be to blame for not doing.
These principles and inferences were afterwards ex
amined by Mr. Bull, both in Latin and English, on
occasion of his last treatise, which came out soon
after to back this, and is directly levelled against our
DR. GEORGE BULL. 151
author, out of whose Harmonia Apostolica he hath 1675.
translated several leaves together, and almost whole ~
chapters, thinking to overthrow his hypothesis by
some arguments which he hath brought against it,
and to establish his own. And in this last book,
wherein he expresseth so much his concern for the
doctrine of the Church of England, and his zeal to
correct the opinions of some learned men in her com
munion contrary to it ; he frequently referreth to the
aforesaid discourse, wherein he had laid down these
principles, and drawn several corollaries from them
to his purpose. And of this as particular an account
as is needful, for the perfect understanding the his
tory of the works of so great a bishop in our church,
and of so eminent a defender of the catholic faith,
will not surely be altogether unacceptable ; since it
must needs contribute more than a little to the right
state of certain questions, which the generality of
people are ordinarily for considering but on one side
only ; and to the giving a fair prospect of the argu
ments on both sides, without passion or prejudice,
that upon summing up of the whole, it may be more
easy for any one to judge on which side the advan
tage doth lie.
Now therefore he saith that the learned author's An account
design is very commendable, that his whole first dis-sign and
sertation concerning the sense of the apostle James, "Jf ]!,"(t °
in affirming justification by works as a condition, istreatlsc-
acute, solid, and cogent : and not only this, but that
so also is all generally in his second dissertation to
the fifth chapter, and part of it. And he is entirely
one with him, so long as he explaineth or defendeth
the meaning of St. James, or discovers th the weak
ness and falsehood of the attempts of many writers,
152 THE LIFE OF
1675. designing to reconcile the seemingly contrary expres
sions of this apostle with those of St. Paul : yea, he
thinketh what is written by our author hereupon is
highly worth the reading of any that have other ap
prehensions of the meaning of St. James, or that are
not satisfied that the apostle Paul by faith meaneth
the whole necessary duty of a Christian. Moreover
he granteth and lamenteth, that many important
doctrines of the reformed churches are frequently
by too many grossly explained, so as to have ill
consequences flowing from them ; which, if rightly
understood, would be found not to patronize but to
disown such consequences. And particularly in the
protestant doctrine of justification by faith, accord
ing to St. Paul, he granteth Mr. Bull to have rightly
interpreted what this apostle meaneth \)v faith, and
consequently to have rightly explained the doctrine
of the reformed churches therein, wrhile he proveth
that we are to understand, not one single virtue by
faith, but the whole Gospel-condition, the whole
duty required for salvation, as the obedience of
faith. So that the whole controversy of Mr. Truman
with him is only about that part of the second dis
sertation which undertaketh to prove what St. Paul
meant by works of the law. And Mr. Bull is charged
with following herein the opinion of Dr. Hammond, as
it is laid down in his Practical Catechism, very fully.
Principal NOW the first great mistakes as he will have them,
mistakes '
charged the TTpwra ^evSt), in that part of Mr. Bull's book, which
HUU, P. 4. he esteemeth the occasion of all his other mistakes,
JJ"2 r in relation to the apostle Paul's sense in denying
justification by works, and indeed of the mistakes
also of many other learned authors, (as Episcopius,
bishop Taylor, &c.) being much of his judgment in
DR. GEORGE BULL. 153
the particulars here disputed of; are made to be 1675.
these: viz. 1. His concluding that there is no lawpageT™
which proposeth future rewards and punishments,
but the Gospel or law of grace. 2. His not consider- Page 14.
ing the difference between an original law and a
remedying law, or conditional act of oblivion distinct
from that first law. 3. His not understanding the Page 19.
difference between natural and moral impotence.
4. His notions of the law of Moses, as having only Page 2 2.
temporal promises and threats annexed to it, and
being void of spiritual and internal commands.
These he supposeth to be the fundamental mistakes
of Mr. Bull, and other learned divines in the Church
of England, which he endeavoureth to confute to
the utmost of his power, and must be acknowledged
to have said some things hereupon that seem not
inconsiderable.
XXXIII. For because he knew not of any that had
spoken exactly and satisfactorily of the law, in the
several notions and acceptations of it, nor in all things
rightly, at least not comprehensively enough in his
opinion ; he thought it necessary to write somewhat
largely and distinctly concerning it ; in order to de
stroy both Mr. Bull's hypothesis, and likewise to lay
a foundation for the right understanding not only
of the passages of the apostle in debate, but of other
passages also of the New Testament, respecting the
law ; and particularly of the Epistle to the Hebrews,
where law, he thinks, is to be taken in a different
sense from that wherein it is in the places now in
dispute. His thoughts upon the matter, in short, The prin
H IT 1 • P'6S °f ^
are these: that the law or Moses may be considered Truman,
either as to temporal respects only, or as to the
154 THE LIFE OF
1675. cerns of the life to come, and that under both these
" respects it ought to be again considered, either as
the original law itself, or as the remedying law to
it. And accordingly he hath four several notions
Page 24. ancl interpretations of the law. First, he considereth
it in the external political sense, wherein it had only,
as temporal punishments for offences, so only tem
poral promises of peace, prosperity, and long life in
the land of Canaan, upon obedience to the law ; and
also had in this sense no spiritual or internal precepts.
However, he maintaineth the law in this strict tem
poral sense to be a shadow both of future punish
ments to every transgression internal and external,
and of future heavenly felicity to perfect obedience.
Secondly, he considereth the same law, as compre
hending in it a remedying law as to these temporal
severities, or as affording pardon upon sacrifice, for
the greatest number of transgressions. And so he
will have it, that this political and temporal law was
a sort of little Gospel in reality; being a law of par
don, as to the temporal punishment that was therein
threatened ; and a shadow also, or pattern and re
presentation of its own gospel-favour in admitting
the transgressors thereof to grace and pardon, with
regard to eternal punishment, on the account of the
great satisfaction to come, that was typified by such
sacrifices. Thirdly, he considereth it as a law of
conscience, essentially respecting the future state,
and requiring obedience to all therein commanded,
under the peril of future death or wrath to come ;
for that otherwise there would be no pardon or satis
faction by Christ, for the wrath to come, which by
this law is due to sin. And in this strict sense he will
have St. Paul to use the word law in the most of
DR. GEORGE BULL. 155
those places in dispute, and which are insisted on by 1675.
Mr. Bull to reconcile them to St. James. And in
this sense he saith the law was no type or shadow,
nor to vanish away, but that it standeth in force to
this very day. Lastly, he considereth it as a law ofpage.^.
grace, revealing that the punishment made due to
the transgressor, by the law in its first and strict
sense, might yet be pardoned; and he should enjoy,
notwithstanding this, the promised life to come, on
condition he did repent, and sincerely endeavour
obedience for the future to all God's laws, with the
whole bent of heart and soul. And in this sense he
saith the law was no type or shadow at all, but the
very Gospel itself, and that word of faith, which
the apostles preached : and that in this very sense
also David took the law in most of his encomiums of
it. Whence he concludeth, that justification and
salvation are not denied to it, or to the works of it,
by the apostle, either to Jews or Christians ; foras
much as it still continueth the same for substance,
having the same sanction and condition, or precept
in general ; namely, that upon our repentance and
sincere obedience, God will justify and save us from
all our sins. And accordingly,
He interpreteth both the threatening^ and pro- His
mises of the law, as having four different si
fications. Thus concerning that solemn
tion, Cursed is every one that continueth not in allol(l Teff-
•^ ment with a
things written in the book of the law, to do $0»,fwirfoH
u . respect.
he saith it did notify these four distinct sanctions,
with their distinct conditions: viz. 1. Every one
shall be punished with a violent temporal death,
or such death shall be due to him, that observeth
not every external precept of the law. 2. Every
156 THE LIFE OF
16715. one shall be punished with the aforesaid death
without remedy, that offendeth either in the great
instances exempted from pardon, or in other lesser
faults, not observing the sacrifices appointed for the
expiation of these. 3. Future death, or wrath to
come, is due to every one that obeyeth not every
commandment both internal and external. And, 4.
This future or second death shall without remedy
befal every such offender against the law, he not
repenting of his sins, and sincerely endeavouring
obedience to every precept thereof, internal and
external. And to the like extensive import he will
have also the promise or blessing annexed to the law,
to be interpreted. Now he supposeth the not under
standing this fourfold distinction of the Mosaical co
venant, and of its cursings and blessings, or threats
and promises, to have led Mr. Bull into some mis
takes, in determining what St. Paul meaneth by
works and by the law ; and consequently in his de
nying justification by the works of the law.
His opin- And whereas Mr. Bull is very particular and full
in distinguishing between the Iloreb covenant re
corded in the 20th, 21st, 22d, and 23d chapters of
made in Exodus, and the covenant made in the land of Moab,
the land
of Moab. recorded in the 29th and 30th chapters of Deuter-
Har. Apoxt. , . . . . „.
cap. xi. onomy ; as having quite different promises and pre
cepts, the one carnal and earthly, the other spiritual
to'S f°urs an(* neavenly : Mr. Truman on the other side main-
p. 53- taineth, that they are not two but one and the same
covenant, by many arguments which he bringeth
from history, and the reason of fact. And whereas
Mr. Bull also, after Episcopius, Dr. Hammond, bishop
Taylor, and others of great name, doth assert the
promises and threats of the Mosaic law to be only
DR. GEORGE BULL. 157
and properly temporal ; his adversary hath inserted 1675.
a pretty large dissertation concerning the spirituality P. 119. to
of this law, and the sanction thereof, even by re-20
wards and punishments in another life, which con-
taineth some observations not to be despised.
He granteth the law of Moses to have no spiritual His senti-
. . . ments con-
commands, threats, or promises, as it was the «»«&•«- ceming the
ment of the Jewish polity, but judgeth it cannot be th^iiiosaic
so meant in those passages of St. Paul in debate, tolaw-
be reconciled to St. James, according to the princi
ples he had before laid down and explained. He
bringeth a great number of passages out of the
Psalms, several of them being cited and referred to
in the New Testament, with a design to shew that
it is notoriously contrary to the expressions of David
concerning the Judaical law, to deny that it had
spiritual commands together with promises and
threats, relating to the world to come. He confirm-
eth this by the encomiums of the law given by
St. Paul himself, calling it spiritual and himself
carnal, expressing his delight therein after the
inward man, and declaring it to be holy, just, and
yood. He urgeth, that if the promises and threat-
enings of the law as such were only carnal and
temporal, then none would have been bound to true
piety by that law : but on the contrary, the Jews
would have done well in suffering themselves to be
bound to the earth by the profits and delights there
of; and in alienating their minds from true piety, by
yielding to such an earthly and sordid temper, as
such a law was apt in its own nature to beget. He
insisteth that God would never have been angry with
the Jews for not being wrought upon to real piety
by the law, if that was so very defective. He saith
158 THE LIFE OF
1675. farther, if by that law no future misery beyond this
~ life was announced against the transgressor, there
would have been no man bound to suffer it ; yea,
that Christ could not suffer any thing by way of sa
tisfaction as to the curse of the life to come ; nor any
one be pardoned his transgression, as to punishment
after this life, if no such punishment was ever
threatened by it. He argueth that these threats and
promises concerning a future life must have been so
plain in the law, as people with the use of ordinary
means might understand them. He asserteth, with
out this were so, they had been excusable before
God, and would not have been condemned for not
being truly pious. He maintaineth that this was
the current opinion of the Jews, and that they did
ordinarily believe that the law promised future life,
and threatened future misery. For the truth of
which he appealed to all the old Jewish writers ex
tant, and particularly to the Talmud ; wherein among
three sorts of men that are named to have no por
tion in the world to come, these are esteemed one
who shall say, The resurrection of the dead is not
taught by the law : and to the ancient Targums of
Onkelos and Jonathan, in both of which there is ex
press mention of eternal life. Moreover he urgeth,
that the error of the Sadducees in denying a future
life was occasioned by their not understanding the
Scriptures, thereby meaning the Old Testament, and
more especially the books of Moses, or the Penta
teuch ; which could not be said, if the Scriptures
revealed no such thing, as happiness to the obedient,
and unhappiness to the disobedient in a future state.
Yea, he confirmeth this by the very argument of our
Lord himself; and bv his command to search the
DR. GEORGE BULL. 159
Scriptures, when there were none besides those of '675.
the Old Testament, with a view of finding by them
eternal life : as likewise by the solemn appeal of St.
Paul expressing1 his faith of another life, both for the
godly and the wicked, according to what he found
written in the law as well as in the prophets. And
here he offereth several arguments both from the Old
and the New Testament, to shew that the Jews had
promises in their law of a future blessedness, if they
were found obedient to it : also that they had clearer
promises of a future state, than the Gentiles by the
law of nature could have : and that all that they had
more of this hope of immortality, was to be ascribed
wholly to the covenant of promise, revealed in the
Old Testament, and particularly in the book of the
law itself. This he saith likewise was the perfect
law of grace converting the soul, and giving life to
men converted ; by which Moses, Samuel, and David,
being under it, were justified and saved.
He commendeth Mr. Bull for so interpreting St. IIis con?-
mendation
Paul, as to shew that Abraham had no cause to boast of Mr. Bull,
before God of any thing in the matter of his justifi- men" with
cation : and that the reward imputed to him could m^jj""6
not be of debt, as it useth to be given to works, but P°ints-
of mere grace. Nor hath he so much as one word Page 216.
to say against his exposition of the doctrine of the
Church of England in her eleventh Article ; but fully Page 276.
agreeth with him, that by the words of the Article
there is not attributed any efficacy or dignity to
faith, more than to other virtues, in the business of
justification. Our excellent author hath taken no
small pains in the second part of his Harmony to
shelter himself from the charge of heterodoxy, and
to prove in particular the judgment of the Church of
160 THE LIFE OF
1675. England, even in that very article that establisheth
justification by faith only, not to be against him but
to make for him : and his adversary here confesseth
as much ; and saith expressly, / dislike not this at
all. And indeed there are so many things in Mr.
Bull which he disliketh not, that I know not whe
ther I ought to call him his adversary or his friend.
XXXIV. And whereas he declareth himself not
faction both
with Dr. at all satisfied with what our author hath said of the
Hammond . _ . _ , ,. . ... ,
and Mr. necessity or grace, and or man s disability to do any
their HO-"* g°°d without the assistance of the Holy Spirit, be-
tionsof cause he telleth us not explicitly enough what he
grace. » o
meaneth by this grace, and what the effect of it is ;
yet he falleth most foul upon Dr. Hammond, sup
posing Mr. Bull to have the same common notions
with him about it. So that he maketh here but an
indirect attack against Mr. Bull's book, complaining
that his notions about this matter did lie more
remote from vulgar apprehensions than Dr. Ham
mond's ; Mr. Bull speaking but little ex professo, to
declare what he meant by grace, so that he was not
easily or presently understood. He chargeth how
ever both him and the doctor with a low and mean
opinion concerning grace, which, if practically held,
would be destructive to all piety, and in particular
to the very constitution and offices of the Church of
England. For he is so charitable as to grant, that
men may hold errors destructive of religion, notion-
ally and doctrinally, and yet hold the contrary truth
practically. And this he freely alloweth to be the
case here. Now his own opinion is, " that grace,
" whether actively taken for God's act, or passively
" for the effect of this act, doth not consist merely
DR. GEORGE BULL. 161
" in God's causing or man's receiving such a power, 1675.
" as without which they that enjoy the Gospel can-~
" not be inexcusable in not obeying it, or cannot sin
" culpably ; this being a power that is given univer-
" sally to all that hear and enjoy the Gospel : but in
*' God's giving and in man's receiving something
" from God, which may overcome the aversation,
" that is in man to good, and thence cause him to
" refuse the evil and choose the good, in obedience
" to the Gospel ; without which yet men would not
" be wholly excusable from such obedience." For
he maintaineth that the power, without which men
would be excusable, being properly in God an effect
of justice, is not to be accounted by us an eifect of
supernatural grace, yea not of grace or favour at
all. Since it is no kindness or favour, but justice,
not to condemn a man for not doing what he hath
not the power to do. And if God require men,
saith he, it is necessary in JUSTICE, that he give
them so much ability to choose the good and refuse
the evil, as may make them inexcusable in not do
ing it. The opinion now which he chargeth upon
Dr. Hammond and Mr. Bull, as contrary both to the
doctrine and practice of the Church of England, is
their holding that the effect of grace is, the giving
that internal power or ability, that men could not
be inexcusable without, in not obeying the Gospel:
or, that God's working in us to will and to do, is
but giving us power to will and do. And he saith
that no man can even in the words of the Common
Prayer, seriously pray or praise God, for the con
version and sanctification of himself or others, ad
hering to such an opinion ; by which the grace of
God is degraded, according to him, to the very power p«ge 244-
M
162 THE LIFE OF
i6yr. or faculty of free-will, in actu secundo. This he
~believeth himself to have irrefragably shewn in his
former discourse of natural and moral impotency ;
and for its contradicting the declared practice of our
church, he adviseth any that shall but doubt there
of, to take the said Book of Common Prayer, and
therein read such prayers, and to see if they can
think the meaning of such prayers to be, that God
would give them and others that power to obey
without which he could not condemn them for not
obeying, (as is apparent of that power without which
men would be excusable,) and consequently a power
which whether they pray or pray not for, God is by
himself bound in justice to give them.
This is indeed a most heavy charge against Mr.
Bull, if it could clearly be proved : but he deduceth
it only consequentially from his discourse, and it re-
flecteth not only upon him and Dr. Hammond, but
upon as many as go the common remonstrant way,
or that maintain the universality of grace. It is
vain to protest never so much that the Holy Spirit
giveth us the power, which all the good we do is
imputable to ; or to declare in this case, " That the
" grace of God in lapsed man is the n one sole prin-
" ciple of spiritual life, conversion, regeneration,
" repentance, faith, and every other evangelical
" virtue ; and that all that can be justly attributed
" to our will in any of these, is the obeying the
" motions, and making use of the powers which are
" bestowed upon us by that supernatural principle."
For if the obeying the motions, and making use of
the powers, which God bestoweth upon men, may
" Dr. Hammond's Pacific Discourse, Lond. 1660. p. 52. §. 75.
&c. Bull, Harm. Apost.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 163
justly be attributed to our will, and not to a special |675-
operation besides of the Spirit; God only giving us
the power, and wholly leaving it to us to make use
of it, without doing any more by his Spirit to cause
us to make use of it ; Mr. Truman here argueth that
all these high words are but an empty sound, and
that it would be absurd for any one hereupon to pray
to God, that he would graciously cause him by his
Spirit to improve his talent, and make use of the
power committed to him, if God do no more than
merely give the talent or power, which he doth unto
all : and if this be the meaning, as he supposeth it to
be of Mr. Bull, and all the remonstrant divines, God's
grace and kindness towards men is not at all exalted
by any such expressions; and a man is no more
obliged to special thankfulness and gratitude for the
work of his conversion, than if it were said, God by
his supernatural grace made us men, that is, endued
us with understanding and wttL And he saith it is
all one, whether one call this power the remote and
fundamental, or the proximate power of free-will,
while there is meant by it only that power without
which they that enjoy the privileges of the Gospel
have no sin. For if this be the import of all these
great words concerning grace, and supernatural
grace, given to all that enjoy the Gospel of Christ,
that it giveth them only this proximate power, by
which the will being emancipated is at liberty to
obey the Gospel, God going no farther by his Spirit
with any in order to their conversion ; and that this
power, call it what you will, doth all in conversion,
and in causing the difference ; and that therefore all
the good is done by supernatural grace only, and
nothinq is properly imputable to man in the whole
M 2
164 THE LIFE OF
1675. work of his conversion : the learned rectifier con-
tendeth, that all this is really nothing ; that it mani
festly tendeth to confound supernatural grace and
common providence together : and to argue thus is
no less illogical, than to say, Man doth all in im
proving the Gospel to his own conversion : there
fore God doth all. To conclude, he highly com-
mendeth that sober sentiment of the great bishop
Sanderson, who confessing his own disability to re
concile the consistency of grace and free-will in con
version, and being sensible that they must both be
maintained, tells us, ° " He ever held and still doth
" hold it the more pious and safe way to place the
" grace of God in the throne, where we think it
" should stand, and so to leave the will of man to
" shift for the maintenance of its own freedom, as
" well as it can ; than to establish the power and
" liberty of free-will at its height, and then to be at
" a loss how to maintain the power and efficacy of
" God's grace."
Some other Besides these, there are some few other objections
objections i • i i n . ^ T T-, 1 1 , ,
raised winch he made against Mr. Bull s book, as particu-
larty> that though he gave indeed the true sense of
many verses in the fourth chapter to the Romans,
yet he feigneth the apostle to bring them in too
desultorily ; that he is mistaken in stating the case
of Abraham from St. Paul, making that to be before,
which was really after the divine calling, and his
believing ; that upon his principles men might after
their conversion live perfectly, and do as much as
they are required to do by the word of God ; and
that his inference from the defended and received
o See Dr. Hammond's Letter to Dr. Sanderson, concerning
God's Grace, &c. §. 90, 9 i .
s con
cessions.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 165
opinions amongst the Jews, about the nature of 1675.
obedience to their law, is not well supported. And
whereas Mr. Bull hath spent a whole chapter in
citing out of some authors certain sayings of the
Jews, in defence of the power of free-will, without
the assisting grace of the Spirit, he will have it that
many of them may be capable of no ill construction :
and that they possibly mean no more than that men
have the natural power of free-will, without which
they cannot be men, from God's common providence ;
and not that the will is not in a moral sense insuper
ably wicked without grace.
As to what Mr. Bull had written concerning the Some of
ritual and ceremonial law, and the works thereof, asman
circumcision, sacrifices, and the like ; or concerning
the Jewish interpretations of the whole body of the
Mosaic law, containing under it the moral law ; or
concerning human inventions and additions to it,
and the several erroneous opinions of many of the
learned Jews in respect to it ; or concerning the
most pernicious solifidianism of the Gnostic heretics ;
or, lastly, concerning the several contrary errors and
mistakes of some Christian sects, which are with
great judgment considered by him in his Epilogue ;
Mr. Truman, with all his metaphysical subtlety,
could find nothing herein to condemn : yea, he
expressly commendeth him for having shewn out
of the Jewish writers, that it was a vulgar error
among them, to imagine that they perfectly fulfilled
God's law, and did all that was required by it, though
they did but some few externals only ; as thinking
that those commandments which require the obe
dience of the heart or internal righteousness and
holiness, were only matter of counsel, and not strictly
16« THE LIFE OF
1675. of precept ; and instead of bringing up their lives to
the law, maintaining such opinions as brought the
law down to their lives.
The result Upon the whole, he thinketh it improbable that
of tht;
whole every chapter of both dissertations of Mr. Bull
should be revised and approved by so able a divine
as Dr. Nicholson, bishop of Gloucester : and sus-
pecteth, that he had great temptations to pretend
his approbation of the whole and every part of it,
to gain repute to his opinion, by the great name of so
Page 26-1. reverend a prelate and so learned a writer. And con
cluding, that he had said enough to shew the danger
and inconsistency of some prevailing opinions con
cerning the nature of grace and the Mosaic dispen
sation ; he insinuateth nevertheless, that he might
probably write more hereupon, if urged to it ; and
did accordingly begin soon after a treatise upon the
covenant of grace, which he lived not to finish : for
saith he, My great aversation to such principles
(common to Dr. Hammond and Mr. Bull) will much
incline me upon an easy call to oppose the prevalence/
of them ; till I shall see some Jitter man of our own
church and language, where they prevail, (as I doubt
not but that there are many, whose abilities and circum
stances make them far more fit,} willing to undertake
it, and save the labour of my iveak endeavours. From
which it appeareth, that Mr. Truman was very far
from the sentiments of the rigid dissenters ; and
that he did not totally leave our church upon the
Act of Uniformity i but did consider himself still as
a Church of England man, some lesser matters only
excepted.
XXXV. Mr. Bull, not long after, wrote an answer
DR. GEORGE BULL. 167
in English to Mr. Truman, which yet was never 1675.
published v, wherein we are told his hypothesis was Mr. Bull
fully examined, and all his objections replied to; not guTi" ™
without the consentient testimony of all the catholic Engllshi
doctors of the church, both before and after the rise
of Pelagius, and of the ancient Jewish rabbins.
For out of a fear that offence might be given to the
common people, by handling certain abstruse and
profound questions, to the treating yet of which he
was necessitated by the exceeding great subtleties of
this writer ; he was willing that what he had thus
written should not come abroad, but only be com
municated to a few friends, whose testimony he
appealed to herein. In this answer to Mr. Truman
he set himself to overturn his fundamental dis
tinction of natural and moral impotence,, and to
shew the many absurd consequences flowing from
such a position, and how that at the bottom it was
neither more nor less than downright Pelagianism.
In it he endeavoured to prove, that the law of nature,
as considered in itself, or the moral law, prescribeth
not a most perfect and absolute righteousness, but is
contented with that which is much inferior to that
which is required by the Gospel : and moreover,
that eternal life was not due at all to the observation
of that law. Also he maintaineth. that man, even
in the state of innocence, had not a natural power or
ability of obtaining by the perfect obedience of the
law an heavenly immortality ; and that besides the
perfection and integrity of nature wherein he was
made, he was likewise endowed with the divine
Spirit, as with a principle of the divine nature; by
which his natural faculties, otherwise insufficient,
P Appendix ad Exam. Cen. Animad. 17. §. 6.
10*8 THE LIFE OF
1675. were improved and exalted to the attainment of the
~ superior paradise, whereof the inferior was a type.
This he saith is abundantly made out in his English
papers against Mr. Truman, though not in a style so
very fit for vulgar readers : and having represented
the strangeness and inconsistency of his hypothesis,
which he saith was borrowed from Amyraldus'i, he
sheweth how from one absurdity a multitude of other
absurdities cannot but flow ; how upon his princi
ples it is possible for every man, if he hath but his
natural faculties sound, perfectly to fulfil the law of
God, when sufficiently made known to him, without
the assistance of any inward grace ; how it is natu
rally possible, but at the same time morally impos
sible : how God may lawfully require of fallen man
most perfect obedience, without either giving him
or being ready to give him any grace, by which that
obedience may be wrought ; how the law of nature
to those that shall keep it, can give life everlasting ;
how the evangelical law doth not convey together
with it grace and power, to perform the obedience
which it requireth ; and that this grace is only given
according to the good pleasure of God, to some few
thereunto ordained ; but that all the rest are justly
damned, because they might have lived well if
they would, but that they had not power to will it.
This by those hints which he himself hath given
of it, seemeth to have been the substance of what
was written by him in English on occasion of
Mr. Truman's two mentioned books, his Discourse of
(l [Moyse Amyrault, a Calvinist, of Saumur in the seventeenth
century : he published several works upon grace, and a paraphrase
on the Epistle to the Romans.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 169
natural and moral Impotency, and his Endeavours to « 675.
rectify some prevailing Opinions. •
But Mr. Bull being engaged, as he thought, to But not
vindicate himself against Mr. Charles Gataker's Anini- SjtJTSwt,
adversions upon his Harmony, thought it also con- J"^™ in
venient to answer Mr. Truman in Latin ; as to the Latil1-
principal objections made against him, Dr. Ham
mond, and bishop Taylor, thereby to render his re
ply more full and complete. And this he hath done,
both in his Appendix to the Examination of the
17th Animadversion, and in his answers to the 19th,
21st, and 22d Animadversions of Gataker, relating
to the twofold defect of the Mosaic dispensation.
Where he learnedly and strenuously defendeth what
he had advanced in his former book, concerning the
grounds of the impossibility of justification by the
law, for which he is so severely handled by Gataker.
Truman, and others ; and laboureth to prove that
the opinion of his adversaries therein is strictly and
properly Pelagian ; and that his only is the true
catholic doctrine, supported by the authority of St.
Augustin and other orthodox Fathers.
He is very large in discussing the question, whe- The sub-
ther there was any law or covenant, distinct from
the Gospel, requiring perfect righteousness of fallen
man, with the promise of eternal life if he did per
form it, and under the penalty of eternal damnation
if he did not. And having explained the state of
the question, he proceedeth, and defendeth the true
catholic opinion thereupon in the following theses.
1. The covenant of life made with Adam in his
state of innocence, was by his transgression of the
same, made void, not only for himself, but for his
posterity also ; so that now all the children of Adam,
170 THE LIFE OF
1675. as such, are the children of death, that is, are ex-
~ eluded wholly from all promise of immortal life, and
are subjected to the necessity of death, without any
hopes of a resurrection. 2. All those of the posterity
of fallen Adam, who are altogether destitute of
divine revelation, and to whom the new covenant of
life hath not yet been manifest, are under the obli
gation of no law but that of nature. 3. The law
of nature, (which is the dictate of reason,) so far as
it is considered in fallen man, as destitute of the
Spirit, and of divine revelation, doth not prescribe
the most perfect and absolute virtue, nor is an im
mortal and heavenly life due to the observation of
this law. 4. God never entered into any covenant
of eternal life with the posterity of fallen Adam, but
what was confirmed and established in our Saviour
Christ ; and must consequently have been the very
Gospel itself, according to that of the apostle, The
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ
our Lord. 5. The Gospel, or the law of Christ,
though it prescribe a religion that is most excellent
and perfect, especially as it is most fully revealed in
the books of the New Testament, doth not com
mand any thing to man in his fallen state, but that
which is possible to be fulfilled by the grace which
it promiseth. 6. Though according to the Gospel,
or law of Christ, all those degrees of righteousness,
which are possible for us by the grace of the same
Gospel to be performed, are binding to us ; yet they
are not all binding strictly and precisely under the
penalty of everlasting damnation. Forasmuch as
the evangelical law doth not for every default what
soever, yea, though by grace it could have been
avoided, denounce against man exclusion from the
DR. GEORGE BULL. 171
kingdom of heaven, and much less doth it threaten 1675.
hell torments for this ; but only for such sins as are
repugnant to the very end of the law, the love of
God above all things, and do more immediately re
sist the divine loving-kindness. 7. The extraordi
nary indulgence of the Gospel doth herein eminently
shine forth, that it promiseth forgiveness of all, even
of the most grievous sins, committed either before
or after the grace of it shall be received, upon con
dition of repentance: but then this repentance, so
far as it relateth to the more grievous sins, which
are called deadly, must be most exact and perfectly
practical. These are the seven pillars upon which
his whole superstructure, concerning the difference
of the first and second covenant, and his comparison
of the Law and the Gospel doth subsist. And he
concludeth against Mr. Truman, that if the covenant
of life made with Adam was annulled by his sin,
both for himself and his posterity ; if the posterity of
Adam, to whom the new covenant of life hath not
been revealed, are only bound to the observance of
the moral and natural law, which cannot of itself
give eternal life; and if there be no other new cove
nant of life entered into by God with fallen mankind,
then certainly there is no covenant or law, prior to
the Gospel, and distinguished from it, which doth
require of lapsed man the most absolute obedience,
and most perfect virtue, with regard to eternal re
wards and punishments in another life. Also against
him he disputeth both from the Scriptures and Fa
thers, that the Gospel is a ministration of spirit,
so that the Spirit of Christ must be individually con
joined with his law, that commanding nothing which
his grace is not sufficient to perform. And he dis-
172 THE LIFE OF
1675. putetli against him, that it was not only the common
"opinion of all the catholic doctors who lived before
Pelagius, that a man might by the grace of Christ
fulfil all his commandments : but that it was the
very sentiment also of the greatest enemies of the
Pelagian heresy, and most eminent writers against
it, as particularly of St. Augustin, and St. Hierom,
with our venerable Bede.
An hypo- XXXVI. The hypothesis of Mr. Truman, as esta-
thesis of •*
Mr.Tru- blished in both his discourses, being this ; " That
man's ex- . _. _ , . . .,, . ,
amined. " the reasoning or St. Paul against justification by
" the Mosaical law, supposes that law to require
" an impossible condition of justification, or such an
" absolute righteousness as no man through his moral
" impotence can ever discharge ;" our author eridea-
voureth to demonstrate, that the reasonings of that
apostle in his Epistles, both to the Romans and the
Galatians, go upon quite another foundation ; and
that they suppose that in the Mosaical law, as under
stood according to the letter, there was no true jus
tification at all, or remission of sins reaching beyond
this life, ever set forth. And truly if this be not
demonstrated by those many arguments and testi
monies which he hath brought ; it must at least be
confessed, that so much is here said against the con
trary opinion, as to render it very highly improbable.
And as for his objection of the spirituality of the
law, about which he hath said indeed so many fine
tilings, Mr. Bull here distinguished, and saith it
was generally the opinion of the ancients, that the
word law is taken in Scripture in several senses ;
that in St. Paul's Epistles it is taken, either accord
ing to the letter, or else according to the spirit :
DR. GEORGE BULL. 173
and that this last is no other than the very Gospel 1675.
itself, as being hid under ancient figures, and covered
over with the veil of ceremonies, first explained by
Moses himself, as well as the time could then bear,
next by the succeeding prophets more clearly mani
fested, and last of all, by Christ and his apostles
most fully revealed as the sun at noon-day: that
those encomiums which are attributed to the law, of
being spiritual, holy, &c., are properly applicable to
it, as taken according to the spirit, or for the Gospel
itself: that whensoever St. Paul detracteth from
the law, or denieth justification to be by the works
of it, he then always understandeth it as taken ac
cording to the letter. And, lastly, that the apostle
doth very fitly take the law either in one sense or in
the other, either spiritually or carnally, according
to the differing sentiments of those to whom he
wrote his Epistles. And whereas Mr. Truman had Page 132,
&c
objected against Mr. Bull, that his degrading the
laws of Mount Sinai so low as he had done, was in
effect a reflection upon God himself, the author of
it ; and that he had misinterpreted St. Paul, by
making him say, That the law did not promise such
things, as that a man had need of faith, which is the
evidence of things not seen, to believe them ; but
promised only things of sense, not of faith : and also
by supposing the apostle's meaning, Gal. iii. 21, to
be, that the fault was in the law, not in the men ;
because if the law promised it, men would have at
tained life by that law: and so making an excuse
thereby for the carnal and servile genius of the gene
rality of the Jews, as suited to their law ; if the law
of Mount Sinai was indeed such a dispensation of
servitude, and fit to beget in men a mean and servile
174 THE LIFE OF
1675. disposition of mind : Mr. Bull answereth, that it
~ would be very unjust to charge God herewith, see
ing that by his wise and gracious providence, suffi
cient care was taken that the Jewrs might not stick
in the letter of the Mount Sinai law, but might look
beyond it. For he sheweth how God provided that
the tradition of life to come, derived down by the
patriarchs, either immediately from himself or other
wise, might be kept up under the law, and be both
expounded and confirmed by the sermons of the
prophets, whom he raised up in their several ages
for instruction and conduct to his people. He saith,
the patriarchal tradition is clear, both by the pro
phecy and example of Enoch ; and that the sub
sistence of the soul, after the death of the body, was
hence believed by the most ancient Jews who lived
after the delivery of the law by Moses. And this he
especially gathereth and confirmeth, from the -history
of king Saul consulting the pythoness of Endor, and
seeking of her, that he might have some discourse
with Samuel that was then dead ; which he would
never certainly have done, had he not believed the
soul of the deceased prophet to survive. He argueth
also to the same effect from the original of necro
mancy, the most ancient of all divinations, founded
upon this separate subsistence of the soul ; from the
yospel of Moses, or his sermon in the plains of Moab,
wherein he calleth the Israelites off from the outward
ceremonies of the law which he had taught them, to
inward godliness; and from the circumcision of the
flesh to the circumcision of the heart : and expressly
admonisheth them, that the whole business of their
salvation did turn upon this one precept of loving
God with all their heart : and from the prophetical
DR. GEORGE BULL. 175
testimony, more especially instancing in such pas- 1675.
sages of r Samuel and David, of Isaiah, Jeremiah, of"
Hosea and Micah as are herein most clear and
express. Whence he concludeth, that the Jews, who
in St. Paul's time stuck to the bare letter of the
Mount Sinai law ; whether they were Pharisees,
who acknowledged indeed a mystery in the letter of
the promise, but could not see beyond the letter of
the precept ; or whether they were Sadducees, who
understood both the promises and precepts of the
Mosaical law, according to the letter only ; were
without excuse. So that after all, the difference
betwixt Mr. Truman and Mr. Bull will be found
very inconsiderable.
This Mr. Truman was indeed a person of a deep Thecharac-
and searching genius, but perhaps too metaphysical : rectifier.
candid in fully representing the argument of his ad
versary without disguise, and commending whatever
he thought worthy of commendation ; but severe
also in his animadversions, where he believed he
wanted not sufficient grounds for so doing : generous
very often in his manner of treating those he dis
sented from ; but sometimes yet unreasonably suspi
cious and scrupulous : cool and moderate in the
management of his cause, with very little appearance
of passion and prejudice ; but vigorous yet and zeal
ous for the rectifying of some certain opinions,
«/ 1-/ «y
which he took to be contrary to the doctrine of the
Church of England, for which he still continued to
profess an esteem. This made him respected by
several eminent divines of our church ; and even by
r i Sam. xv. 22. Psalm 1. i — 17. and li. 16, 17. Isai. i. 10 — 21.
Jerem. vii. 21, 22, 23. Hosea vi. 6. Mic. vi. 6, 7, 8.
176 THE LIFE OF
1^75. such also of them, who did not agree with him in
his darling notions. His knowledge was not con
fined to his own profession, for he had a good share
of skill, not only in the statute and common law,
but also in the civil: he was a good critic in the
learned tongues, particularly in the Greek, where
by the great strength of his memory his head would
supply the place of a lexicon ; and though he was
ejected for nonconformity, yet during his recess
from his public station, he commonly attended the
worship of God in public.
Bishop \i- XXXVII. While Mr. Bull was busied in this
cholson,
Mr. Bull's controversy with Mr. Gataker and Mr. Truman,
dies This and was designing to have a fair copy transcribed,
character. ^ jogj. j^ ^er^ gOO(j friencj an(j patron the bishop,
who had hitherto directed and assisted him. For
the good prelate having at heart the good of the
church and the honour of his clergy, and being a
great encourager of learning and learned men, with
in his sphere and district at least, had a great satis
faction in Mr. Bull, and failed not upon all proper
occasions to express his esteem for him : and on the
other side, Mr. Bull took no small pleasure, as in
seeing himself so favoured and honoured by his dio
cesan, so also in making all suitable returns of duty
and gratitude on his part. He was always a singu
lar admirer of that condescension and familiarity, of
that truly paternal care which he found in this good
bishop, who by his learned writings had defended
and maintained the Church of England against her
adversaries, when she was under a cloud ; and after
that she had rid out the storm, did not omit to do
all that became an excellent prelate, for supporting
DR. GEORGE BULL. 177
the catholic faith and discipline professed in her 1675.
communion, both by himself and by others. He died
at Gloucester, having sat in that chair above eleven
years, in the 82d of his age, upon the 5th of Fe
bruary 167J, with the reputation of a truly primi
tive bishop. His works shew him to have been a
person of great learning, piety, and prudence, parti
cularly his Apoloc/y for the Discipline of the an
cient Church, printed the year before the Restora
tion ; and his Exposition of the Apostles' Creed,
the year succeeding it ; with his Exposition of the
Church Catechism, that hath had many editions.
And as he was not only for his knowledge of the
Fathers and Schoolmen consulted by Mr. Bull, but
also for the great share of critical learning whereof he
was master : so his singular affability, modesty, and
candour, made his loss in an especial manner to be
regretted by him.
A worthy gentleman, Owen Brigstock, esq. of Bishop NU
Carmarthenshire, grandson to bishop Nicholson's epitaph/
lady, out of respect to his lordship's memory, did, B^H by Ai
at his own charge, erect a very handsome monu
ment, in a chapel of the cathedral church of Glou
cester, in order to perpetuate it. The care of the
inscription was left to Mr. Bull, whereby he had an
opportunity to draw his patron's character in short ;
and because it is at the same time a proof how
capable Mr. Bull was even of such a performance,
the reader, I believe, will not think it improper to
be recorded in his Life, and is as followeth ;
^Eternitati S.
In spe beatse resurrectionis,
Hie reverendas exuvias deposuit
Theologus insignis,
Episcopus vere primitivus
N
178 THE LIFE OF
i fat. Gulielmus Nicholson,
In agro Suffolciano natus,
Apud Magdalenenses educatus,
Ob fidem regi et ecclesise afflictae prsestitam,
Ad sedem Glocestrensem merito promotus,
Anno MDCLX.
In concionibus frequens,
In scriptis nervosus,
Legenda scribens, et faciens scribenda.
Gravitas Episcopalis in fronte emicuit ;
Pauperibus quotidiana charitate beneficus,
Comitate erga clerum et literatos admirandus.
Gloriae ac dierum satur,
In palatio suo ut vixit pie decessit
Febru. 5°. anno setatis LXXXII.
Dom. MDCLXXI.
Elizabetha conjux prseivit, in hoc sacello
Sepulta Ap. XX. An. Dom. MDCLXIII.
Owenus Brigstock de Lechdenny
In comitatu Caermarthen Armiger,
Prsedictse Elizabeth* Nepos
Hoc grati animi monumentum
(Executore recusante)
Propriis sumptibus erexit, An. MDCLXXIX.
[There can be little doubt but that the following
epitaph in the church of Suddington St. Mary was
also written by Bull :
Hie juxta repositum jacet quod mortale erat
Richardi Bridges generosi,
Juvenis ingenio formaque prsecellentis,
Qui ante quadriennium in matrimonio exactum
Amissa incomparabili conjuge
Filia unica Geo. Hanger de Driffeild Arm.
(Qua mortua vix ipsi vita fuit mortalis,)
Dein post menses aliquot variolarum morbo correptus
(Amicis et quotquot ipsum norunt moerentibus)
Hac vita excessit V. Kal. Feb. MDCLXXVI.
Heu spes mundi fallaces.
Tu superne quserito.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 179
Upon the death of this excellent bishop, we are 1675.
™e0£atho~
told by Mr. Bull himself, that he laid perfectly aside HOW a stop
the papers which he had drawn up in defence of his
ffarmonia, against the strictures of the younger
Gataker, with a design they should have been com- [£
municated to his lordship, had he lived longer, andtrines-
so have been submitted wholly to his censure and
disposal. But as the bishop did not much insist to
have Mr. Bull's answer, when he had considered
Mr. Gataker's Animadversions, and found so little
matter in them deserving one : and as Mr. Bull,
when he had finished his answer, which was in a
few months after he had received it, began to grow
more cool and indifferent, the warmth of his spirits
being now a little evaporated ; and did not care, as
he confessed, to take the pains of reviewing and
transcribing it for the bishop's perusal and examina
tion : the said answer was dropped for the present,
and, the bishop dying in the mean time, was here
upon condemned to lie buried in his study, among
his neglected papers, having no farther thoughts of
letting them see the light, since he was now dead
whom he entirely depended upon for his fatherly
direction in this matter ; and by whose advice and
assistance his former book had been published to
the world, which gave occasion for this. Whereof
there is this account, that presently upon his receiv
ing his own book from the bishop's hand, with those
animadversions interspersed, he set himself with all
his might to expose the weakness of them, and
more fully vindicate the catholic truths, which he
had before so publicly maintained in his first book,
against all that is commonly brought for the support
N 2
180 THE LIFE OF
1675. of modern notions contrary to them. s And he ac-
"quainteth us, that his papers against Mr. Gataker
were written only at his leisure hours, in the midst
of much other business continually interrupting him,
and with so much haste, that they were not to be
read by any body besides himself, and hardly by
himself neither, except with the help of his memory.
The reason for his so hastily setting about this reply,
was, besides that most terrible complaint presented
against him, by his most passionate and unfair cen-
surer, who was in hopes of getting his book con
demned, and the author silenced, and thought, no
doubt, he should hereby do God good service, a
dissatisfaction in some, that were otherwise hearty
well-wishers both to the church and him, who were
yet of the opinion, that he had written somewhat
too freely in some parts of his Harmony. And
though these Animadversions were not indeed print
ed, yet having been addressed in a solemn manner
to the governors of the church, and strenuously
also insisted upon in letters to several of them, as a
matter of the utmost consequence to the church ;
and great means being also used to hinder his pre
ferment by some very eminent men ; he thought his
silence might be interpreted by some as a tacit ac
knowledgment of his guilt, and that even his delay
might be misconstrued also, and give an advantage
to his adversary. Upon this, he concluded not to
wait for a set answer to his book, as some would
have had him, but immediately fell upon his anim-
adverter, and meeting by the way with an endea
vour of a more moderate adversary, could not alto-
* Prsef. ad Examen Censurse
DR. GEORGE BULL. 181
gether pass him by. But the bishop's death inter- l675-
vening, as was said, put a stop to what he had de
signed, so that he had no farther thoughts about it,
till the matter was revived afresh by a book of the
learned Dr. Tully, levelled directly at him, of which
there will be occasion to speak more hereafter.
About the same time Dr. Barlow, then Margaret How Publlc
Professor at Oxford, and afterwards bishop of Lin- were read
coin, in some of his lectures before that learned
body, is said to have treated Mr. Bull very roughly,
even so far as to give him opprobrious names; an
account of which was sent him by his learned and
pious friend, Mr. Thomas, at that time chaplain of
Christ Church, and resident in that university, who
was then present, and took notes of all that related
to his friend in those lectures. This treatment
brought Mr. Bull to Oxford, who with Mr. Tho
mas waited upon the professor, told him with what
inhumanity he had been treated by him, and offered
to clear himself from those imputations by a public
disputation ; but this would not be accepted of. Mr.
Bull and his friend thought it very hard to have
lectures read against him in the university by so
great a man, as if he were not only to be held for
an heretic by the church, but even for an heresiarch
too ; and not to have liberty after all granted him
to purge himself from such a public charge of heresy,
in the ordinary way of disputation, and before the
same auditory to whom he, for the sake of his book,
had been thus represented in such gross colours;
they could not believe such a proceeding was by
any means equal or justifiable in the professor. A
disputation was all that Mr. Bull desired for him
self; but was prudently enough declined by this
182 THE LIFE OF
1675- doctor of the chair, not knowing what might have
been the consequences thereof. He excused himself
therefore to Mr. Bull as well as he could, and en
deavoured to avoid owning the fact, till Mr. Tho
mas positively affirmed it to his face, offering to
produce the notes which he had taken ; to which
the professor had no more to say : and they parted
with no other satisfaction to Mr. Bull, than that
the person who had been so forward to defame him
in his absence, durst not make good the charge to
his face.
HOW Dr. XXXVIII. Thus Mr. Bull having got the better
Tally be
came Dr. of the professor, and hearing no more after this from
Barlow's tj««»i_«ii
second a- the divinity-chair, had some rest for a time, and an
Bull!1 opportunity therewith, of examining some other con
troversies of another nature. But though Dr. Bar
low was silent after this visit made him, and cared
not to meddle more with Mr. Bull ; yet a friend
and colleague of his was found willing to undertake
the cause, and carry on the charge of heterodoxy
and innovation against Mr. Bull, which in his lec
tures he had begun, but wanted courage to main
tain. This was Dr. Tully, formerly fellow of Queen's
college, and then principal of St. Edmund's hall
adjoining : who was indeed an eloquent and learned
writer : nor must it be denied, that he was a very
valuable person for other reasons, and that he did
much good in the university. He had some time
before printed a sort of System in divinity, for the
use of young students, which had been well received,
« Praecipuorum Theologise Capitum Enchiridion didacticum.
Lond. 1665, 1668, &G.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 183
it having had several editions. But his notions 1675.
being partly different from those of Mr. Bull in ~
his Harmonia, the doctor was prevailed on to appear
against him and his book in Latin ; and thereby to
vindicate both himself and his friend, who had been
in such a manner challenged as hath been related.
And whereas no answer had yet appeared to Mr.
Bull's book, but one in English, and that written
too by one that was thrown out by act of parlia
ment from the exercise of his ministry ; and as this
might be matter of applause to Mr. Bull and his
friends, that no one yet of the Church of England
had undertook to answer him from the press; and
that a famous professor, and he reputed no small
master in the polemical part of his profession more
especially, thought not fit to venture, when nearly
attacked, to maintain the cause against him, but
seemed rather to retract the charge of heresy, which
had been by him so liberally bestowed ; it was there
fore concluded, that this charge could not, with any
modesty, be kept up longer against the Harmonia
and its author, without there was a thorough answer
to it, written by some learned divine of the Church
of England ; and one against whom there could lie
no exception ; who should therein endeavour to
make out, that Mr. Bull's explication of the doc
trine of justification was properly heretical, as being
contrary in a fundamental point to the testimony of
Scripture, and against the opinion of the catholic
Fathers, the judgment of the Church of England,
and the determinations of all the foreign reformed
churches.
Now there could not be any one fitter for this The fitness
, , . ofDr.Tully
than the learned person already mentioned, being forsnr}lau-
184 THE LIFE OF
'675- of a life and character unexceptionable ; but who
undertak- had early imbibed other sentiments than those which
hi|haexPt!Mr.Bull had published, and thence had read both
tationsfrom tne gcrjptures and the ancient church writers with
him.
quite another view : and, besides, he being beneficed
in the church, for the doctrines of which, against all
innovations and innovators, he expressed an extra^-
ordinary zeal ; and governor at the same time of an
house in the university, which was by his diligence
and exact discipline made to flourish ; and chaplain
also in ordinary to the king : all this could not but
make it to look somewhat more like a battery from
the side of the Church of England, as it was in
tended, than any that had yet been ; and there
would thus want one objection at least against him
in Mr. Bull's favour, which was too obvious not to
have been taken notice of, in the case of one, if not
both of Mr. Bull's former adversaries. An answer
therefore was accordingly undertaken by this learned
doctor, with no small confidence of success,
Some en- Some nevertheless of his friends would feign have
dcfivoiirs of
modest men dissuaded him from engaging in this matter, being
church, to °f opinion, that he would but hereby create himself
an unnecessary labour, without serving the church,
according as he purposed : and they plainly told him,
that the point disputed was not of all that conse
quence which he took it to be ; and that therefore
it would be more advisable to drop the controversy,
for the sake of the church's peace, than by this
means to revive and keep it up ; especially consider
ing, that probably in the end this would turn to a
mere strife about terms. They who gave him this
advice, whosoever they were, had not hitherto de
clared themselves on either side, as it appears, but
conten
tions.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 185
expressed themselves with much candour and mo-
deration towards both : and would gladly have
allayed the heats of one against the other, and
amicably have composed their differences. But
Dr. Tully was not able to bear this their luke-
warmness and wdifferency, as it appeared to him to
be : and so far was their sober admonition from
working upon him, that this did but the more raise
his zeal, and quicken him to persist the more stead
fastly in his "resolution, of defending what he looked
on, as the very palladium of the reformation. And
so deep was this notion imprinted on his mind, that
he was amazed any one should think otherwise : nor
could he tell how to pardon them, who charitably
advised him not to intermeddle in this cause, which
bishop Sanderson x declined, because he was not for
entering into a controversy, whereof he could. never
expect to see an end. Yea, the more he was con
vinced that these were wise and learned men, and
lovers of the truth, his admiration grew the greater ;
and he could not forbear breaking out into the
highest astonishment, that such as these should be
so far carried away with the gallionism of the age,
as to consider the most noble and momentous of all
controversies (in his opinion) as little better than
a squabble about words. Thus there were several
endeavours used to quash that intestine strife in the
church. But nothing it seems was able to divert
the doctor's purpose of engaging Mr. Bull, when he
was once resolved of the matter, and so he pur
sued his design, being borne up with an immoderate
" Epist. Dedic. et Praef. n. 3, 4. Justif. Paulina.
x [Made bishop of Lincoln in 1670.]
186 THE LIFE OF
1675. assurance of the goodness of his cause, even so far as
to fancy the light or evidence thereof to be clearer
than the sun himself.
what Mr. XXXIX. A great while before it went to the
when he press, the book, which Dr. Tully had been set to
Tidijwas write, for the reasons already suggested, was dis-
™ug coursed of at Oxford : and thus coming to the
against
him- knowledge of the worthy person, against whom it
was principally directed, he thought it his duty to
consult, as much as in him lay, the peace of the
church ; that so the adversaries thereof might have
no occasion to triumph. And therefore he resolved
to offer the doctor all reasonable satisfaction in the
first place, entreating him, for that end, the favour of
a friendly conference betwixt them : that so, before
he should publish what he was preparing against
him for the press, they might come rightly to un
derstand each other, and not lose in the combat what
they were both equally contending for. Whence
he pressed him much, that the truth might be so
amicably and candidly examined by them, as became
Christians and divines, that no cause of scandal might
remain ; but that on the contrary, every offence
might be removed so far as was possible. And if
any had been justly given, by his Dissertations
upon Justification., or by either of them, or any
error or mistake by him therein committed, he said,
it should freely be owned and confessed by him,
so soon as ever it could be made to appear ; this
however was denied him, of which he afterwards
complained ; and it was thought he had reason so
to do. For,
While this treatise of Dr. Tully was yet, according
DR. GEORGE BULL. 187
to his own expression?, sticking in the birth, 1675.
there was brought about a meeting of him and Mr. what pass-
Bull, for this very end. At which, Mr. Bull telling of M^Bd!
him how he heard that he was writing against him, toDr'TulIy'
did very earnestly beseech him, " above all things to
" consider well the peace of God's church, and to
" take diligent heed, lest by public dissension be-
" tween two divines of the same communion, the
f* enemies of our church might take occasion of up-
" braiding and reproaching her ; or, besides the
•" schismatics, some even of her own weak members
" might happen to be offended hereby also. And
" did therefore entreat him, that he would for pre-
" venting this evil be pleased, as a friend, to com-
" rnunicate to him his papers ; upon this condition,
" that if by these he could make it out, that he
" had written any thing against sound doctrine, he
" wrould not refuse publicly to retract his error."
This proposal appeared then so very reasonable,
that Dr. Tully seemed to agree to it, and an
swered, " That he might in a very little while
" send him perhaps a copy of those his papers."
But after this, Mr. Bull never once heard from
him ; nor had any reason given him for the altera
tion of his mind.
At length, about the beginning of the year 1674, Dr. Tuiiy
there was published at Oxford, after much expecta-j^, amwer
tion, permissu superiorum, according as the title- to Mr> Bull>
page expresseth it, a Latin treatise ; which was
inscribed, Justificatio Paulina sine operibus, ex
mente Ecclesice Anglicance, omniumque reliquarum
quce Reformats audiunt asserta et illustrata contra
y [Apol. pro Harm. sect. ii. 4.]
188 THE LIFE OF
1675. nuperos NOVATORES : Author e Tho. Tullio, S.T.P.
~ &c. that is, Justification, as delivered by St. Paul, with
out works, asserted and illustrated according to the
sense of the Church of England, and of all the rest of
the reformed churches, against the late innovators:
by Thomas Tully, D.D. and Principal of Edmund hall
in Oxford, &c. with the permission of superiors ; in
4to. To this was also added another short tract at
the end, in answer more particularly to the ninth
chapter of Mr. Bull's second dissertation of his Har-
monia, without ever mentioning his name, under the
title of Dissertatiuncula de Sententia Paulina, Rom.
vii. a com. 14 ; in qua ostenditur Paulum de
se loqui regenito., non autem in persona hominis
nondum regeniti. i. e. A short Dissertation, con
cerning the meaning of St. Paul in the viith to the
Romans, from the 14th verse ; wherein is shewn,
that St. Paul speaketh not in the person of a man
unregenerate, but of himself as regenerate. Now
notwithstanding that the author was encouraged to
the publication of this book by bishop Morley2;
awho read it over in manuscript, not without some
shew of approbation, (the Appendix aforesaid only
excepted, which we are told was revised and ap
proved by another learned prelate of our church,
whose name is not indeed expressed ; but whom I
suppose to have been the then bishop of Lincoln, even
his good friend Dr. Barlow, lately b advanced to that
see ;) it is yet said, he met with no small obstructions
in the bringing it forth c, and was forced at last to
z [Bishop of Worcester in 1660, and translated to Winchester
in 1662.]
a Epist. Dedic. p. 8. b [jn 1675.]
c [Vid. Apol. pro Harm. sect. ii. 4.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 189
make use of an artifice, before he could obtain leave 1675.
to have it printed : whence he calleth this his book,
AInfcelicis Horoscopi foetus ; as if it were born
under an unfortunate planet ; and so heavily com-
plaineth of the hardness of its parent's labour, as also
of his being threatened with a smart answer. Of
the occasion and motives for his engaging in this
controversy, enough hath been said already. Of the
contents and method of his book, so far at least as
Mr. Bull was therein concerned, it remains now to
give some account, for the affording a light to the
history of this controversy, and to some part of the
life of so eminent a writer in our church, as this that
I am now employed in.
He stateth then the question after this manner. The man-
mi • T «iii i ner °^ ^'s
Ihere is no disagreement, saith he, between them stating the
about the sense of the word justification ; and he al- anTesta'-
loweth these four things, viz. 1. That the faith which JJ^jf
justifieth is not barren, and fruitless of good works, opinion.
2. That the radical seeds or habits of the other vir
tues are also infused together into the soul along
with faith. 3. That good works are needful to sal
vation ; so that without them it cannot be attained.
4. That justification may, in a declarative sense, be
attributed to works of righteousness ; all this he
freely yieldeth to Mr. Bull. But the TO Kptvo/mevov in
this controversy, according to him, " is that, for the
" sake of which God may receive a sinner to grace,
" may acquit him from the curse of the law, and
" may make him an heir of everlasting life." And
it is here agreed, that on God's part this must
be the merit of Christ, and that alone ; the only
d Prsef. p. 7.
190 THE LIFE OF
1675. difference ariseth from the application of this merit;
that is, whether it be by faith and works together,
or else by the former alone. This latter opinion is
by him maintained to be the doctrine of the church
of England, and the catholic church^ and particularly
of all the churches that are called reformed : and
the other he accuseth of great singularity and no
velty, which he undertaketh to prove, but with what
success, is left to the learned and candid examiner
to judge. For he echallengeth all the Fathers, both
before and after St. Augustin, to be of his opinion ;
most heavily charging, at the same time, the con
trary one, as unsupported by any one Christian
writer. He readily yieldeth indeed, that there are
different uses of the word justification found among
the holy Fathers ; but contendeth, that they all uni
versally agree in the thing itself, and stand up
against the righteousness of works, for the right
eousness of faith, in our acceptance with God. And
thus having claimed the judgment of the catholic
Fathers, without so much as one of them excepted,
to be unanimously for him ; and triumphed over Mr.
Bull, as he thought, on this head, where his greatest
excellency was generally esteemed to lie ; he pro-
ceedeth to fexplain the doctrine of the Church of
England, from her Articles and Homilies, insisting
very much upon the literal and grammatical sense
of them, and from the testimony of some of her
most learned writers, such as Mr. Hooker and bishop
Andrews : and then Spasseth on to the judgment of
the foreign reformed churches; instancing in the
several confessions of the protestants of Germany,
l> Cap. ii. p. i 2. f Cap. iii. p. 20. S Cap. iv. p. 28.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 191
France, Holland, Poland, Hungary, Bohemia, and l675-
Switzerland, besides the oriental confessions of faith
by Cyrillus Lucaris. All which he hath endeavoured
to bring over to his side, not without some appear
ance of truth, and appealed to as witnesses for him,
against the harmonist.
Now having laboured to establish his own opinion, His account
which he supposeth to be the faith of the Church ofsonswhTlu
England, and to fortify it by the authority of Fathers J™ "^
and Synods, and by the whole strength of the re
formation ; his next endeavour is, to inquire how
Mr. Bull, or any other, the matter appearing to him
so very plain, could possibly fall into the contrary
opinion. Wherefore the far greatest part of his
book is taken up in discovering what he is pleased
to call, the fountains of this error. The 1st of
these is, according to him, the h abuse of the doctrine
concerning justification, as by him explained, or the
fear of antinomianism ; and upon this he spends a
whole chapter. The 2d is the 'distinction between
justifying works and the merit of them ; upon this
he hath also another chapter, and is large in discuss
ing the meaning of that distinction, ex operibus and
propter opera. The 3d is the k exclusion of some
works, and the admission of the rest, contrary (as
he will have it) to the express mind of St. Paul.
The 4th is the limputative righteousness of Christ,
either exploded or not rightly understood ; which he
maintaineth to be a very great cause of error in this
matter. The 5th is the manner of arguing from
the m concomitance of works with faith, for the jus-
h Cap. v. p. 39. ' Cap. vi. p. 44. 167. k Cap. vii.
p. 52. 1 Cap. viii. p. 76. '" Cap. ix. p. 96. i 70.
192 THE LIFE OF
l67j>- tification by works. The 6th is the misunderstand
ing the "nature of justifying faith. The 7th and
last is the "symbolizing with popery. These he
maketh the seven sources, or causes of departing
from the unity of the church's doctrine, concerning
justification, as the same is stated by him ; and to
make this out he hath spared no labour, and hath
said some things that are not amiss. This inquiry
being finished, the last chapter was reserved by him
for the P reconciliation of St. Paul and St. James.
But he thinketh there was no need of it, and con-
demneth the harmonist and others, for being at so
much pains, where there was so little occasion for
it ; there being no disagreement at all, saith he, be
tween them, seeing that they speak not of the same
faith or justification, and so cannot differ. How
ever, he commendeth Mr. Bull's industry, and wish-
eth only, that he might employ his parts for the
cause of truth and of the Christian faith. This
treatise Dr. Tully was willing should be thought to
have been written by him, in defence of the Xlth
Article of the Church of England. It was learnedly
writ, and with some spirit, and by many at first it
was approved of, who concluded that he had the
better of the harmonist,, especially in his 2d, 3d, and
4th chapters, where his chief strength was thought
to consist, and in the conclusion.
Thed*- XL. As Dr.Tully's treatise of Justification was
sign of his »
discourse, pretended to be written in defence of the Xlth. so
DeSenten- .... J J
tia Paulina, was his dissertation of Original Sin, which is his
commentary on the seventh to the Romans, no less
n Cap. x. p. 104. o Cap. xi. p. 115. p Cap. xii. p. 131.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 193
pretended to be written in defence of the IXtk Ar- 1675.
tide of our religion. The principal design whereof ~
is to explain and defend these following propositions,
and more particularly the last of them ; viz. 1. Ori
ginal sin is the depravation of nature, propagated
from Adam to every man. 2. By this depravation
man is very much departed from original righteous
ness, and hath a natural propensity to evil, the flesh
lusting always against the spirit. 3. This very de
pravation and corruption of nature is not only at
first in every person born into this world, but doth
remain even in them that are regenerate. 4. The
permanence of such depravation in the regenerate
is confessed and avowed by St. Paul, and that even
in his own person : and this hath of itself the nature
of sin, and is thence no less than seven times called
by the name of sin in this very seventh to the Ro
mans. Here he mightily triumpheth over the har
monist, as he every where calls him, for understand
ing St. Paul no better, and for not attending enough
to the doctrine of his own church. He chargeth
him with too much precipitancy and magisterialness
in judging, witli affectation of novelty, with not
rightly numbering the votes of the ancient Christian
writers, with reviving a calumny of Pelagius against
them, and with mistaking the sense of the apostle
several times, and wresting it. with vain and ground
less criticisms. And he endeavoureth to shew, how
among the Fathers, Augustin and Hierom are flatly
against the harmonist, though they were at first,
before they had examined into the matter, of another
opinion; how Hilary also, Nazianzen, and others,
before the disputes between Pelagius and Augustin,
had the same sentiment ; how a probable reason may
o
194 THE LIFE OF
1675. be given, why Origen, Chrysostom, and Theodoret
were of another mind ; that Aquinas, Salmero, Pe-
rerius, A Lapide, and Estius among the Roman
writers, and even the catechism of Trent itself, are
against his interpretations ; and how the arguments
which he hath brought for the defence thereof are
not able to bear up his hypothesis, which seemeth to
him grounded upon a Pelagian bottom, or upon the
great Diana (as he will needs have it) of free-will.
It seems that Dr. Tully was persuaded, that if he
could but overthrow Mr. Bull's interpretation of this
place in St. Paul, he should thereby be able to over
turn at once the whole fabric of his Harmonia ; and
indeed Mr. Bull himself had before given the hint 1 :
therefore he is so long on this point, considering it
as the most fundamental one in the whole building ;
to subvert which, he was hence for leaving no stone
unturned. This dissertation is by some looked on
as the most considerable part of the doctor s perform
ance in this cause : and is more than once taken
notice of by r Mr. Bull, as that which deserved his
most particular answer, and further consideration.
For he thought there was little else besides in what
Dr. Tully had written against him, but what he had
already answered, in examination of Mr. Gataker's
angry Animadversions : and that this only had the
face of any thing like a direct answer to that part of
his book, which was referred to by it.
Dr. Tully goon after j)r Tully had published his Justifica-
dies, his » »
character, tio Paulina, with the mentioned dissertation, De
Sententia Paulina; he had, by the interest of his
fl Harm. Apost. dissert, ii. cap. 9. n. 27.
r Prsef. adExamen, n. 3. Prsef. ad Apol.n. 2. Apol. sect. ix. n.i.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 195
friends at court, the deanery of Rippon given him ; 1675.
which yet he enjoyed not long ; for he hardly lived
out a year after he had this preferment, being broken
quite with his controversial studies : so that he lived
not to see himself answered by Mr. Bull, though he
heard of it, his Apology against him being in the
press, and almost printed off when the good doctor
departed this life. This Dr. Thomas Tully had
merited the reputation of a very pious and learned
man ; but, as some that personally knew him have
observed, it was his great misfortune that he betook
himself to write controversy ; and especially, that he
engaged with so brisk a writer as Mr. Bull was, even
then when he was well nigh worn out. Had he kept
to practical divinity, few could have exceeded him :
and as he was master of an excellent Latin style,
with a good degree of vivacity of thought, and easi
ness of method, it is very probable, by those speci
mens he hath given the world of his ability that
way, that if he had followed herein the true bias of
his genius, he could not have failed to make himself
famous. Some indeed seem to have had another
opinion concerning him, and to think he had a genius
also well enough turned for controversy. But no
wonder if they were disappointed, by expecting too
much of him, and beyond what the cause could really
bear. And happy had it been for him, in the judg
ment of his best friends, had he never intermeddled
in these theological wars. For neither in body nor
in mind, say they, was he fitted for them. Since he
was a person but of a weak constitution, and the
many bodily ills and infirmities which he laboured
under, especially in his later years, tended much to
discompose his mind for that intense application
o 2
196 THE LIFE OF
1675. which is here required, and to render him a little too
hasty in determining matters, before they could be
thoroughly considered and weighed. Otherwise he
was noted for being a good disputant, as well as a
good preacher and orator. But the natural severity
of his temper being heated with the strict Calvinisti-
cal doctrines bound him so strait up, that he was
made hereby not very capable of managing an
argument with all that success which might have
been expected from him, considering his parts and
learning.
Mr. Bnii XLI. In the year 1675, soon after the death of
Eh J£*M- Dr. Tully, and about the end of the year, was pub-
lished by our author8, An Examination of the Cen-
\aaApoio- sure^ or an Answer to certain Animadversions
Cflfl tO-
gether. never before published, upon a booh, entitled, The
Apostolical Harmony, fyc. By George Bull, a
presbyter of the Church of England. With which
was joined also this other book of his, entitled, * An
Apology for the Apostolical Harmony, and the
Author thereof, against the Declamation of Tho
mas Tully, 1). D. in a book lately set forth by
him, under the title of Justificatio Paulina. There
is a sufficient account given in the prefaces to both
these discourses, of the reason why they were both
published together, and why so late also : and there-
s Examen Censurae sive Responsio ad quasdam Animadver-
siones antehac ineditas, in librum cui titulus Harmonia Aposto-
lica, &c. per Georgium Bullum, Anglicame Ecclesise presbyte-
rum.
' Apologia pro Harmonia ejusque Authore contra Declamatio-
nem Thornse Tullii, S. T. P. in libro nuper typis evulgato quern
Justificatio Paulina, &c. inscripsit.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 197
fore it would be very foolish to object, that it is an 1675.
easy matter to fight against dead men ; for it was
not Mr. Bull's fault, that both these replies were not
printed while his adversaries were yet alive. And
he is certainly to be commended, that as soon as
he heard of Dr. Tully's death, he took immediate
care to have several passages blotted out of the
sheets remaining to be printed, because they con
tained some pretty sharp reflections upon him, though
they were true in fact, and by some of Mr. Bull's
friends thought too necessary to be omitted. Mr.
Bull also professeth, as a good Christian, that he
would willingly have struck out a great deal more,
if it was possible to have been done without a very
great injury to the truth ; for as to what he might
suffer in his own person through such an omission,
he was not solicitous. This upon several occasions
he repeateth ; and certainly he may deserve to be
believed in it, when he maketh such a profession of
his sincerity before God and the world.
So far as Gataker and Truman are concerned in An obser-
the first of these treatises, there hath been enough his EJU-
said already : but there remaineth still one observa- ™™n™tes
tion to be made concerning it, which respecteth the ^s since-
author himself. And this I cannot but here men
tion, because I look upon it as a greater vindication
of our author, both against them and all his other
adversaries, than any one that hath hitherto been
mentioned ; and as a greater instance of his candour
and love of truth, than is to be met with in most
writers at this clay. I observe therefore, that his
Examen ought not to be considered barely as an
answer to his adversaries' objections, but moreover
198 THE LIFE OF
1675. as a fuller explication of his own sentiments. For"
~he very solemnly assureth us, that when he was
above forty years of age, he read over again his
Harmonia several times ; that he did this with as
much seriousness and impartiality as it was possible
for him ; and that he earnestly prayed to God in the
first place, that he would vouchsafe to enlighten his
mind with a beam of his heavenly light, and to dis
cover unto him every error of his whatsoever against
the divine truth ; that for this end, he did his ut
most to strip himself of all self-love, and of fondness
for his own work ; yea, that he made also a x vow,
and most solemnly and sacredly bound himself to
God, that upon the discovery of his errors, he would
openly and publicly before the church renounce them,
without the least regard had therein to his own
reputation. Upon which review of his work, so
accurately and so religiously performed, he declareth,
that there were some things in it which might have
been explained more clearly and fully, and which
indeed ought to have been so, for the sake at least
of younger readers ; and that therefore he had en
deavoured to supply this explication as well as he
could in his Examen. Moreover he confesses, that
he had discovered his interpretation of a difficult
place or two in St. Paul not to be so certain as he
at first thought; but that he could not learn any
that was more certain. Wherefore also, he is not
for insisting at all upon what is in its nature obscure
u Apolog. sect. viii. n. 5.
* Quibus [precibus] sancte quoque vovi et spospondi, me osten-
sos errores, susque deque habita existimatione mea, palam et
publice coram ecclesia abrenuntiaturum. Ibid.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 199
and difficult, or what requireth an exactness of l675-
critical skill, or what is only incidental and circum
stantial, but only upon the main of the argument,
which hey supposeth he hath sufficiently cleared.
And however he may possibly be mistaken in some
lesser matters, he protesteth, that as to the substance
of the doctrine of man's justification, which is by
him defended according to the mind of both apostles,
he is not without the highest degree of certainty of
his being in the right. To give some few instances
of matters explained by Mr. Bull in this latter piece,
which wanted to be more distinctly and fully stated,
it maybe sufficient to mention the2 form of justi
fying faith, the imputative righteousness of Christ,
the questions about the Mosaical law, and the na
ture of the first covenant with man in his state of
integrity.
And as to the other treatise, written in answer toAnobser.
'iiiiii i vation upon
Dr. Tully, the same observation will also hold good, his
For there are abundance of passages in this up
down, which do clearly confirm the great sincerity the same>
and ingenuity of our author in the management of
this controversy. And if this be not a fair and full
apology, both for himself and his Harmonia, against
what was objected by that reverend doctor and his
revisors, there never was a cause in the world fairly
and fully defended. And I must needs say also, that
he hath made the best apology for his adversary too,
that could be made, in one article, wherein he is con
trary to him, and which by parity of reason may be
extended to the rest of the articles in like manner,
wherein they do not agree. For with much inge-
y Exam. Cens. Epilogus.
z Exam. Cens. Respons. ad Animadv. ii.xi. xvii. xix. xx.
000 THE LIFE OF
1675. imity he confesseth, "That a Dr. Tully had not a
" few divines of the Church of England, and those
" of some eminence also in it, who had led him into
" the error; but that these learned men lived in
" those times, when, by the arts of some certain
" persons that were extremely wedded to the Geneva
" divinity, matters were come to that pass, that it
" was hardly safe for any one to interpret either the
" Articles of our church, or even the holy Scrip-
" litres themselves, otherwise than according to the
" standard of Calmiis Institutions, whose error
" therefore, saith he, ought not so much to be im-
" puted to them, as to the age wherein they lived.
" Since almost in every age, as one hath well ob-
" served, there is as it were a certain torrent of
" opinions proper to it, against which, whosoever
" shall go to oppose himself, he will certainly either
" be carried away with the violence thereof, or be
" quite overwhelmed." This is an observation that
is very just ; and the candour of Mr. Bull, in the
application of it, ought not, I think, to be quite
passed over in silence. Nay, did I know a better
excuse for Dr. Tully, and other good and learned
men, who were educated in such times, and accord
ing to such principles, and so were carried on by the
zeal of what was called orthodox, I would be as
willing to do him and them right, as the worthy
person whose life I am writing. But I know no
better than that which this judicious apologist hath
made himself on their behalf. There are not a few
instances besides in this very treatise, which prove
him a sincere as well as a learned writer, but which
a Apol. sect. vii. n. 7.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 201
cannot be here insisted on. It is much to be la- |675-
mented, that so good a man as Dr. Tully was gene
rally esteemed to be, should so unhappily be engaged
in a controversy of this nature, but especially, that
he should be so far transported in the management
of it, as not to examine with a due care the argu
ments and authorities of his author whom he pro
posed to answer, and thereby should lay himself too
open to a just censure, and should hurt his reputa
tion so far, as even to render himself by this means
suspected of some insincerity. Yet it is to be feared,
that this hath been the case of many an honest man,
who, by the strength of prejudice and an impetuosity
of zeal, may have been carried much farther than
ever was designed, to the no small prejudice of the
truth. But for Mr. Bull it must needs be acknow
ledged, that with a very laudable diligence he spared
no pains, that he might thoroughly and impartially
examine all that ever his adversary could bring
against him : neither must it be denied, that he hath
made such just and reasonable concessions, as render
his own cause the stronger, while they yield to the
opposite that which it might lawfully demand. And
indeed, this his apology is written with so much
masterly strength and judgment, that a very learned
foreigner called it the Triumph of the Church of Dr. Grabe.
England in this cause.
*
XLII. Now whereas the authority of certain fo- The prefer-
, , , -, f, . ,, . ring modern
reign divines had been made use ot in tins contro-authority
versy by Dr. Tully and others, against the catholic jjj"^;, ;.
tradition of this article, as explained and maintained jjj^*^1
in the Harmonia, our apologist affirms it to
most unreasonable, and against the principles of the
202 THE LIFE OF
1675. Church of England, to prefer the authority of any
modern doctor or doctors whatsoever, before a truth
grounded upon Scripture, with the unanimous con
sent of the catholic church. Upon this occasion, he
taketh notice of what bishop Jewel had urged before,
in his Apology for our Reformation, that it was
founded purely upon catholic principles, and upon
the model of the primitive church ; by which means
the new discipline introduced by Calvin being re
jected, the order of episcopacy was retained, and the
most ancient forms of public prayers, and sacred
rites, and several primitive doctrines, not in the least
agreeable with Calvin's notions, which are by him
there particularized, were established and confirmed.
And as for the judgment of the Church of England
upon this point, he appealeth to a canon made in
full convocation, A. D. 1571, and afterwards con
firmed by queen Elizabeth, whereby it is ordained,
that all preachers shall chiefly take heed., that they
teach nothing but what is agreeable to the doctrine
of the Old and New Testament, and what the
catholic fathers and primitive bishops have thence
collected. And moreover he cites a constitution of
king James the First, requiring all candidates of
divinity not to spend much of their time in systems
and compendiums, but to apply themselves seriously
to the study of such books, as are agreeable to the
doctrine and discipline of the Church of England,
and particularly to the reading of the fathers, coun
cils, schoolmen, histories : and to this he adds the
testimonies of many eminent writers in our church
to the same purpose, professing themselves most
readily to embrace, next to the sacred books, the
consentient testimony of the ancient Fathers; and
DR. GEORGE BULL. 203
that they were not willing to admit any thing, either '675.
in the doctrine or government in the church, which
should not be agreeable to it.
Upon which the most learned and pious editor of The best
his works could not forbear expressing his most "iTding tx»u-
hearty wishes, that there were many more of the'™^8'68
same opinion, who would not refuse to submit their church-
private thoughts and interpretations of Scripture, to
be determined by primitive and universal tradition ;
hoping that this might be a means of restoring the
church to a better state. Our author now hath
clearly given his judgment in this matter, and hath
declared himself in more than one place, that this is
the best, yea the only way of ending our most un
happy controversies, which have rent the church of
Christ at this day in so many parts, if next to the
Scriptures, we would receive and reverence the most
pure and primitive antiquity, and persuade others to
the same practice, and religiously follow the agree
ing judgment of the ancient doctors approved by
the catholic church, and especially of them who were
nearest to the apostolical age, wheresoever this can
be found ; which, he asserteth, is to be found in all
those points that are of any great moment ; and as
for the rest, his advice is, that every one be left to
the liberty of his own judgment, but so as not to
disturb the peace of the church.
XLIII. And whereas Dr. Tully had among other Mr. Bull
. . i • i • i answers Dr.
things b objected also against him, his being but Tuiiy's ob-
little acquainted with the ancient Fathers of thei^nuie0
church, when he published his Harmonia ; and ski11 m tlie
h Apol. sect. iv.
204 THE LIFE OF
that therefore he should not have attempted to write
when his skill in antiquity was so moderate ; Mr.
Bull modestly acknowledged omnia mea modica,
fa^ ne ]ia(] llo great matter indeed to boast of in
any part of learning : but however he gives him to
understand, that for no less than five years before he
wrote his Harmonia, he had addicted himself to
the study of the Fathers next to the holy Scrip
tures ; and more especially of the writers of the
three first centuries ; and likewise acquainteth him,
that he had been advised to this method of reading,
by a very great man in the church, who had ad
monished him to lay the foundation of his theologi
cal studies after that manner, and so to read down
wards ; whose memory was had in great honour by
him. He leaves us to guess who this great man was,
because he doth not name him, though it is probable,
that it was either bishop Pearson or bishop Nichol
son ; but whoever gave the advice, he reckoneth it
the happiest he ever did receive; and he wisheth
that he might be but worthy to prevail on the can
didates of divinity in Oxford to follow the same
method.
The Greek Then he giveth the history of the consent of the
Fathers fa- Fathers, both Greek and Latin, in favour of his in-
S'jtater- terPretation down to St. Augustin ; and sheweth,
pretation. that if any of these speak of justification as by faith
alone, they never once take it for faith simply and
abstractedly considered, but only as it is perfectly
formed and animated ; and so not separated from
inward contrition and charity ; and as the same is
opposed either to external works in general, and the
actual righteousness of such ; or to the works of the
law of nature, performed before and without the
DR. GEORGE BULL. 205
knowledge, faith, and grace of the Gospel ; or to the 1675.
works of the Mosaical law ; or to any others wrought
from a principle of merit in the creature. And be
cause Dr. Tully professeth so high an esteem for
St.Augustin, as to prefer him to all antiquity, our
apologist concludeth his catalogue of the Fathers
with him, and clearly proveth that Father to be of
his, and not of the doctor's mind ; and this not only
from some scattered passages in him, but from the
whole design of his book, De Fide et Opcribus, where
of an account is here given. Thus having done with
the Fathers,
He proceedeth next to examine the ^judgment of Hisanswer
the Church of England, and how truly this is repre- judgment
sented by his adversary. And though he had abun- Church of
dantly before explained himself on this head, yet this ^Jfjj^'
being a very tender point, and so eagerly pressed by foreign
, . , reformed.
every one that had appeared against him, but most
of all by this last answerer, Mr. Bull found himself
under a necessity of omitting nothing that could tend
to clear him from that aspersion, which was likely
to prejudice people's minds most against him, and
most sensibly to affect him and his ministry. Where
fore he is very large and particular in defending the
true doctrine of the Church of England, and in
refuting the doctor's allegations against him, from
the Articles and the Homilies. After which, he
examineth also with great accuracy, the judgment
of the foreign reformed churches, by their several
Confessions : and he is very full in vindicating the
Confession of Augsburgh, which he had styled the
most noble of all the reformed churches ; and shewing
c Apol. sect. v.
206 THE LIFE OF
1675 how it was followed by our first reformers, and par-
~ ticularly by them in compiling our Articles. Nor
doth he omit any thing considerable, that could be
said upon the head of all the rest of the Confessions,
to prove that they taught, that besides faith true
repentance was moreover necessary for the obtaining
remission of sins and justification. Where the words
of the noble Confession of Strasburg, which had been
misinterpreted by his adversary, are by him chal
lenged ; and some passages which had been cited
from others very much illustrated.
Dr. Tally XLV. And having fully justified the conformity
with seve- of his doctrine to the determination of the Church of
England, and to that of the other reformed churches,
he goeth on to shew, that his learned adversary hath
in several points contradicted both. By which he is
led into the consideration of several other matters of
the greatest moment, which are here distinctly and
fundamentally handled ; and the true catholic doc
trine stated and vindicated, in opposition to certain
novel opinions. More particularly, he chargeth his
adversary with maintaining these four heterodoxies
among others ; 1st, That d repentance is no ways
necessary for obtaining the first justification, or par
don for sin. e 2d, That our justification, being once
obtained by faith alone, the continuation of it doth
not depend upon the condition of good works, to be
performed by us for the time to come. 3d, fThat a
man, being once endowed with justifying faith, can
never afterwards so far fall from it as to be lost for
ever. 4th, « That Christ did only satisfy and offer
'' Apol. sect. vii. n. 2. f Apol. vii. n. 7 — 23.
e N. 6. g N. 24. &c.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 207
himself upon the cross for the sins of the elect. All 1675.
which positions he proveth to be repugnant to the"
clear and express definitions of the Church of Eng
land, and of other reformed churches, and indeed of
the whole catholic church.
And whereas Dr. Tully had pretended, that the Theancient
harmonist had but very few of the ancients of his Mr.BulTs
opinion, as to his interpretation of the seventh to UpoTthe
the Romans ; and that after the life of Pelao-ius, all,sfve«thof
o ' the Ko-
or almost all of the Fathers were express against mans-
him, and that of modern divines, he had not above
one or two of any eminency for him ; Mr. Bull hath
proved, that besides Irenseus, Tertullian, Cyprian,
Macarius, Origen, Basil, Cyril, Chrysostom, Theo-
doret, and as many more that had been cited by
Vossius and other learned men, for this interpreta
tion of his ; there were six other illustrious testimo
nies, which he himself had discovered, viz., Justin
Martyr, Clemens Alexandrinus, Marcus Eremita,
Dorotheus, Pacianus and Ennodius. Then he shew-
eth, that the interpretation of some of the moderns,
espoused by his adversary, is very far from the
sense and mind of St. Augustin himself, whom they
so much seem to depend on : as also that the
Greek fathers and doctors, even after St. Augustin
and Pelagius, did constantly adhere to the interpre
tation received and approved in the catholic church ;
yea, that even all the Latin Fathers after that
time, did still persist in the ancient and primitive
exposition of St. Paul. And among the moderns,
Mr. Bull produceth both of the Romanists and of
the foreign protestants, that were eminent, a consider
able number for his opinion, besides Dr. Jackson,
208 THE LIFE OF
l675- Dr. Hammond, bishop Taylor, and others of our
own countrymen : afterwards he answers several
objections of his adversary, particularly that his in
terpretation was not conformable to the doctrine of
our church. And whereas it was urged, that there
was a great agreement between the Harmonists and
the Romanist's doctrine of justification ; that objec
tion is retorted in this Apology upon the accusers :
and it is herein shewn, that the doctor's opinion doth
perfectly harmonize with the popish one, established
in the council of Trent, which will not have true
contrition of sins to be necessary for justification,
and which is contended for in opposition to the
decree of that council by our apologist.
1676. XL VI. In the year 1676, there was published
Mr. Baxter J
aisoanswers also an Answer to Dr. Tully, by Mr. Richard Baxter,
under the title of, A Treatise of Justifying Right
eousness : in two books ; the first related to Imputed
Righteousness, and with an Answer to Dr. Tully s
Letter ; the second contained, A friendly Debate
with the learned and worthy Mr. Christopher Cart-
wright ; containing,, 1. His Animadversions on my
Aphorisms, with my Answer. 2. His Exceptions
against that Answer. 3. My Reply to the Sum of the
Controversies agitated in those Exceptions. All pub
lished instead of a fuller Answer to the Assaults
of Dr. Tully's Justificatio Paulina, Lond. 8vo. Of
which treatise of Dr. Tully he sticketh not to give
this character, that it is ^defective in point of truth,
justice, charity, ingenuity, and pertinency to the
matter. Nevertheless he several times acknow-
h Part i. chap 6.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 209
ledgeth the doctor to be a very worthy person, and 1676.
consequently one, that could not willingly be guilty
of any such defect as he is here charged with. And
indeed, it was the unhappiness both of Mr. Baxter
and him, that they gave but too much reason for the
imputation, under which they both equally lay, of
being angry writers. This treatment of him by
Mr. Baxter I the rather mention, that, if some things
in Mr. Bull's Apology may appear a little too severe
upon this writer, the reader may easily think there
was some occasion for it more than could have been
wished. For the good man it seems had represented
to himself those three, Bull, Bellarmin, and Baxter,
as the three great adversaries of the faith, which
was professed by him, and which he verily believed
to be no other than that of the Church of England :
and thence he falleth so very foul upon each of these,
as if they were in a triple league together, and lay-
eth about with all his might to overthrow what he
supposeth to have been designed by them, against
that which he esteemed as the very Christian palla
dium, and is by him 'so called. The first and last
of these pleaded their own cause, as we have seen ;
and not without success, especially the first ; so only
Bellarmin is left to shift for himself, who, after all,
wrote notwithstanding on this subject with more
moderation than most of his communion, or he him
self who formed the charge against him, and who for
certain was dragged into the controversy, only for
the sake of the other two.
There was also another answer, about the same "««' M „
lombes
time, to Mr. Bull's Harmonia, written in Latin byanimad-
» Justif. Paulin.
P
THE LIFE OF
1676. John Tombes, B. D. who hath been before mention-
verted upon ed ; of which I find very little notice to have been
u11' taken, though some kwill have it that there were
few better disputants in his age than he was ; and it
is certain, that he had studied this controversy for
some time before, both in his debates with the an-
tinomians, and those which he had with the 'great
est opposer of them among the presbyterians. For
he had, near about twenty years before, written also
in Latin msome Animadversions upon Mr. Baxter's
Aphorisms concerning Justification ; and had, on
the other hand, preached likewise in London, before
an eminent congregation, several sermons against
Dr. Crisp, and certain dangerous mistakes and mis
applications of the protestant doctrine of justifi
cation. Mr. Baxter, it seemeth, printed these anim
adversions of his adversary, but without acquaint
ing him first therewith, and replied to them. This
dealing, Mr. Tombes, being thereby prevented from
explaining himself farther as he had intended, hath
"complained of as hard; even as Mr. Baxter hath
done of Dr. Tully : and hereupon he drew out all
his artillery against Mr. Bull, whom he considered as
an enemy of greater weight, and one from whom he
might expect also other treatment ; and therefore
was resolved to make his last effort now upon one,
that was esteemed the most perfect master in con
troversy, and who had brought together the whole
strength of the cause in which he was engaged, with
all the management and learning that could set it
k Athen. Oxon. ] Ed. Calam. Abridgment of Mr. Baxter's
Life, chap. ix. "' Auimaclversiones quaedam in Aphorismos
Richardi Baxteri de Justificatione, 1658. l! Epist. Ded. ad
Auimad. in Lib. G. Bulli, &c.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 211
oft' to the best advantage. Besides, ho took this oc- 1676.
casion of farther clearing and justifying what he had"
written against the aphorist, before Dr. Tully en
tered the lists against him : arid of giving the world
his second and more correct thoughts upon these
nice points, so controverted by protestants and pa
pists among themselves. It is also very probable,
that he did not find that satisfaction in Dr. Tully' s
answer to Mr. Bull, this having been out then above
a year, which he first looked for : and that he was
still more dissatisfied with the answer of Mr. Tru
man, whose principles were not a little different from
his. As for the animadversions of the younger Gata-
ker, he could not have seen them, they not being
printed till his own were in the press : and if he had
seen and read them, it cannot be thought that he
would have been diverted by any thing in them
from undertaking a labour which lay so near his
heart, and whence he promised himself so great a
triumph. But he was now grown old, and not the
man he formerly had been, whatsoever he might
think of himself, or what assurance soever he might
have of victory, as an advocate for the first reform
ers, as he would be thought to be. For it was evi
dently a weakness in him, at threescore and twelve
years of age, when he was quite worn out, and just
ready to drop into his grave, to begin a new combat,
unprovoked, and because, about twenty or thirty
years before, when he was in the full vigour both of
body and mind, he had been successful enough in
engaging with an adversary visibly inferior in
strength, to undertake now, in his latter days, to
grapple with an enemy every way his superior, an
exact master in the arts of this sort of war, and one
p 2
THE LIFE OF
1676. so extraordinarily accomplished besides, both by ex
perience and study, for maintaining and defending
this particular cause dependent betwixt them, as
our Mr. Bull was, even beyond some who otherwise
might be his rivals in learning ; he being then also
in the very prime and fulness of strength, and every
way qualified for such labours as these of the mind.
The old man, zealous however for his cause, pub
lished at London his book against Mr. Bull, just at
the very same time that Mr. Bull's justification of
himself, and his work against Mr. Gataker and Dr.
Tully, came forth. But this did him no harm at all ;
for he had so fully already removed all the material
objections of Mr. Tombes, in his answers to the stric
tures of those two learned Calvinian divines, and so
clearly demonstrated the weakness of their founda
tion, that there needed no farther apology to be
made for his book and himself, against such an hy
pothesis as could be not better defended by the
great learning of its supporters. Mr. Tombes's book
was called, ° Animadversions upon a book of George
Butt's, which lie hath entitled, The Apostolical,
Harmony. According to the title-page, it should
have been published in 1676, but Mr. Bull had seen
a printed copy of it before the end of 1675, when he
was concluding his general preface to his two apo-
logetical treatises aforenamed, so that the edition of
it must have been in Michaelmas term of this last
year, and about half a year before the author's
death.
This Mr. Tombes, our author's last adversary, as
0 Animadversiones in Librum Georgii Bulli, cui titulum fecit
Harmonia Apostolica, &c.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 213
to his cause, were it not for some notions which he '676.
fell into against the catholic practice and doctrine of An account
the church, such as men of learning in the several
communions could by no means approve of, and
which particularly Mr. Bull was averse to in the ter-
highest degree, he might possibly have preserved a
reputation among the learned, not inferior to many of
his age. He was educated at Oxford, in Magdalen
hall, under the famous Mr. William Pemble, author
of VindicifB Gratis, and of several other learned
treatises, whom he succeeded in the catechetical lec
ture of the said hall : and approved himself an excel
lent disputant, and no bad divine upon the principles
of the anti-remonstrants, which were then much in
fashion. It cannot be denied, but that he was es
teemed a person of incomparable parts: and there
fore was chosen lecturer in this hall, upon his tutor's
decease, when he was yet but one-and-twenty years
old, and of six years standing only in the university.
Which lecture he held for about seven years ; and
then left Oxford, and went to Worcester first, and
after that to Lemster in Herefordshire ; at both
which places he made himself very popular by his
preaching. But having no preferment bestowed
upon him, as some will have it, suitable to his merit,
it is thought he became uneasy to see himself so
much neglected : and thence made himself to be
suspected as a person inclined to the puritans; or
not so rightly affected at least to the church esta
blished, as by his education he ought to have been.
Which suspicion increased more and more concern
ing him, as the faction against church and state grew
stronger : and having acquired no small reputation
in the place where he lived, for a more powerful
THE LIFE OF
1676. way of preaching than ordinary, as all prospect of
"advancement in the church was now taken from
him, he was the more disposed to follow the stream
of the times, and the growing interest of a party,
pretending to a greater purity of reformation, both in
faith, and worship, and manners ; and more espe
cially, since by such as these, he was chiefly crowded
after and applauded. It was about the year 1630,
that he began to be famous in the city of Worcester,
and in 1641, he had the living of All-Saints in Bris
tol given him by Fiennes, who managed that city for
the parliament, where he continued till 1643, when
the city was surrendered to the king's party ; sowing
in that time the seeds of some of those opinions
wherewith that city so abounded when Mr. Bull first
came into the neighbourhood of it. Afterwards
going to London, he became Master of the Temple;
where he preached against the antinomians, as be
says in his epistle dedicatory before his Animadver
sions upon the Harmonia, with a design to shew
how their errors did proceed from a misunderstand
ing of the doctrine of the justification of a sinner.
He continued in this place about four years, when
he was supplanted by one Johnson. After this he
went to Bewdley in Worcestershire, at which time
Mr. Baxter was minister of Kidderminster, another
market town, about three miles distant from that
place, being very much followed. They preached
against one another's doctrines, and published books
against each other. Tombes was the head of the
anabaptists, and Baxter of the presbyterians : the
victory, as it is usual, was claimed by both sides :
but some of the learned, who were affected to neither
of them, yielded the advantage both of learning and
DR. GEORGE BULL. «15
argument to the former, while yet they were as far 1676.
from approving his cause, as even Mr. Baxter him
self could be. Certain it is, that his doctrine did
spread mightily in a little time, a considerable num
ber both of presbyterians and independents being
brought over by him. In 1653, being in London, he
was appointed one of the triers of public ministers.
About the same time he got likewise the parsonage
of Rosse, and the mastership of the hospital in Led-
bury, both in Herefordshire ; which he kept with
Lemster and Bewdley. At the restoration of king
Charles the Second, when he saw and considered to
what a woful condition this poor kingdom had been
brought, under the pretext of religion and liberty,
by restless spirits, being willing to take this for a
providential determination, he quietly and readily
submitted himself to the royal party, and resolved
to live peaceably for the future, under the legal
establishment of the church, by conforming himself to
it as a lay-communicant : but would never accept
either benefice or dignity, which was offered him.
And to justify his conformity, and to excite others
to follow his example, he writ a book, called Theo-
dulia, or A just defence of hearing the Sermons
and other Teaching of the present Ministers of the
Church of England; against a Book, unjustly en
titled, (in Greek,) A Christian Testimony against
them that serve the Image of the Beast. Loud.
1667. Nevertheless, he continued in his judgment
as much an anti-paxlobaptist as ever. The Oxford
biographer, who is never to be suspected of partiality
for any persons puritanically inclined, saith of him,
" That, set aside his anabaptistical positions, he
" was conformable enough to the church, would
216 THE LIFE OF
1676. " frequently go to common prayer, and receive the
~ " sacrament at Salisbury, and often visit Dr. Ward,
'* bishop of that place, who respected him for his
" learning." And the abridger of Mr. Baxter's life,
notwithstanding that he created Mr. Baxter the
most trouble of any, or all his adversaries, yet repre-
senteth him under the character of one, whom all
the world must own " to have been a very consider-
" able man, and an excellent scholar, how disinclined
" soever they may be to his particular opinions."
The most learned and judicious bishop Sanderson
had a great esteem for him ; as: had also one of his
successors, bishop Barlow. It was his good fortune
to marry a rich widow in Salisbury, not long before
the king's return ; by whom enjoying an estate, he
lived chiefly there till his death, which happened at
that place in 1676, aged 73 years.
The charge XL VII. Iii the year 1680. Dr. Lewis du Moulin,
of Dr. Lewis J
du Moulin, son of the famous Peter du Moulin, a violent inde-
Mr. pendent, came forth with a virulent pamphlet against
prindpieshistbe Church of England, called A short and true Ac
count of the several Advances the Church of EIJO--
17 O
land hath made towards Rome : or a Model of the
Grounds, upon which the Papists, for these hun
dred Years, have built their Hopes and Expecta
tions, that England would ere long return to Popery,
Loud. 1680, 4to. In which pamphlet, he falleth
hard upon the principles and opinions advanced by
Mr. Bull, and other eminent divines of the Church
of England, especially Dr. Stillingfleet, afterwards
bishop of Worcester, and Dr. Patrick, afterwards bi
shop of Ely : and greatly commendeth the industry
and zeal of Dr. Tully and Dr. Barlow at Oxford, as
DR. GEORGE BULL. 217
the two principal persons, who did keep that uni- 1676.
versity from being poisoned with Pelagianism, So-
cittianism, and Popery. This was despised as it
deserved by Mr. Bull. But soon after, there came
out an answer to this book, with the title of, A lively
picture of Lewis du Moulin, drawn by the incomparable
hand of Mr. Daillc. And Dr. du Moulin not long
surviving after this retracted upon his deathbed all
the personal reflections, which in his book he had
made upon any divine of the Church of England, and
ordered this his retractation to be made public after
his death. Which was accordingly published under
this title, viz., The last Words of Dr. Lewis du Moulin,
being his Retractation of all the personal Reflections
he had made on the Divines of the Church of England,
in several of his Books : signed by himself, on the
5th and 17th of October, 1680, London. Neverthe
less, without the knowledge of his wife or other
relations, (as is said,) there was published after his
death a continuation of the aforesaid libel, entitled,
An additional Account of the Church of England's
Advances towards Popery. For it seems, that the
solifidian doctrine was by a great many looked on
as the main pillar of the protestant religion, which
being once shaken, they thought there could be
no possibility for it to bear up its head against
popery, or to justify the proceedings of Luther,
and the other first reformers. This was plainly in
sinuated in several books about this time published ;
and none stood more exposed to this censure than
the treatises of our author, "which continuing to
prevail more and more, it is no wonder some angry
books were written by the hot Calvinists, tending to
create a suspicion of the clergy and universities of
218 THE LIFE OF
1676. this kingdom, as if they were advancing apace to
~ Rome, while they were for paying a greater deference
to the first writers of Christianity, than to any of the
sixteenth century whatsoever. Mr. Bull was looked
upon to have mainly contributed to infect the uni
versity of Oxford, by his writings, with such doctrines :
but he had so fully, yea so abundantly vindicated
himself, by his learned and judicious Apology against
Dr. Tully, that nothing could be more unfair, than an
accusation of such a nature as this, after he had been
so well justified from it P.
Theconciu- Thus I have endeavoured to present the reader
cwuro- 1S with an impartial account of this whole controversy
reiated'tlT concerning justification, as it was managed betwixt
Mr. Bull's jyjr guu an(j his learned adversaries : wherein I
Harmoma
. have recited matters and arguments on both sides
as an historian, and have not willingly concealed any
thing which might make for them or against him.
This hath insensibly drawn me out, by the great
variety of incidents, much further than ever I could
have imagined at first. But if hereby the truth shall
appear, to indifferent and unprejudiced persons, to
be set in its just light, it will be satisfaction enough
for the pains that have been taken, to make such
a thorough search as was necessary, in order to
this. The schemes of the several writers have been
for this end here represented ; the grounds, occasion,
and method of their writing, historically related ; an
P [The Harmonia was also attacked by M. de Marets, a French
man, in his Sy sterna Theologies, printed at Groningen, in which
he says, " that the author, (Bull,) though a professed priest of
" the Church of England, was more addicted to the Papists,
" Remonstrants, and Socinians, than to the orthodox party."
Wood.]
DR. GEORGE BULL.
abstract given also of the most considerable of their 1676.
pleas, whether from Scripture, reason, or antiquity,
with some account of their persons and characters.
This was in a manner necessary, that a clear and
full view might be had at once of so intricate a
dispute about these arduous points : and that the
sagacity and solidity of Mr. Bull might more con
spicuously be displayed, by allowing to his enemies
all the advantage that could fairly be done ; and that
the invincible strength of reasoning, wherewith the
God of truth had endowed him, might break forth
with more lustre, through the many and fierce oppo
sitions which for a time were made against him.
For the names of Gataker, Truman, and Tully, have
by their unsuccessful attacks served but to render
that of BULL the more celebrated. And as to this
last animadverter, forasmuch as his principles were,
as to this head, the same as those with Dr. Tully,
his method with that of Gataker, and his arguments
with those of one or the other of these ; and foras
much as Mr. Bull did not think his book consider
able enough to deserve any answer, after he had so
fully replied to the other two ; there was no need
to insist at all upon what was urged by him over
again. I shall also pass over what several excellent
writers, and eminent preachers in our church, have
taken up, both in their writing and preaching on the
covenant of the Gospel, and the methods of arriving
at eternal happiness, from the rich treasury of our
author, who seemeth indeed to have exhausted this
subject ; and shall proceed.
XLA^III. Now at the very same time that this con- The sam
troversy was agitated in the church, it was carried
220 THE LIFE OF
1676. also among the dissenters with no small warmth.
carried on By which means the state of the case became
somewhat altered from what it would otherwise
have been, had Mr. Bull alone been considered
as principal in it. And there were three chief
heads of difficulty in determining this matter, which
mightily puzzled them, which side soever they took ;
namely, the reconciliation of divine prescience with
the liberty of man's will in his conversion, and'
subsequent justification ; the determination of the
manner and measure of the operation of God's grace
with and upon the human will ; and the way how
to attribute all our good to God, and all our evil to
ourselves. Mr. Baxter and Mr. Truman, who went
both the same way, thought they were able easily
to solve these difficulties by the help of their me
thod : but others of the dissenting ministers would
by no means subscribe to what was advanced by
these ; and thought the difficulties still to remain as
great as they were at first. And there was a book of
Aphorisms, written by Mr. Baxter, which made as
much stir among them, as the Harmonia, written
by Mr. Bull, did among us : wherefore the name
of Aphorista is always given to the first of these,
as well as that of Harmonista to the second, by
Dr. Tully, in his censure of both these writers.
The Aphorisms of Mr. Baxter had been excepted
against, at their first coming out, by several learned
men : they were answered by Mr. John Crandon
of Fowley in Hampshire, in a book which he in
scribed, Mr. Baxter's Aphorisms exorcised 1 ; and
by Mr. William Eyre of Salisbury, in his Vindidte
(l [Published in 1654.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 221
Justificationis Gratidtte1'. Besides which, they were 1676.
occasionally animadverted upon by Dr. John Wallis,
Mr. George Lawson, Mr. John Warren, Mr. Chris
topher Cartwright, and lastly, by Dr. Thomas Tully.
Some of these wrote, upon the motion and desire of
the author himself; upon which he published his
suspension of these Aphorisms ; then his fuller ex
plication and defence of them, in his Apology ; and
afterwards, an additional explication and defence of
them, both in his Confession of Faith, and in his
Disputations of Justification. Many papers passed
between Mr. Cartwright and him, concerning these
Aphorisms : which were also defended by him
against the other animadverters, but more particu
larly against Grand on and Eyre, long before ever he
was fallen upon, together with Mr. Bull, by Dr.
Tully. This controversy was long afterwards kept
up among the dissenters, some taking the part of
Mr. Baxter, but others violently condemning him as
a favourer of the Socinian principles, for the very
same reason that Mr. Bull was suspected by some,
even because he exerted himself in laying open
the pernicious consequences of the antinomian
scheme.
Some time after this, Mr. Daniel Williams, now The case of
,. . . , Dr. Wil-
a doctor in divinity, and an eminent preacher and Hams, a-
writer in this city, among the presbyterians, made dbnnteni
himself famous for managing the controversy against ab"ut thf
» o antinomian
the antinomian principles, when they were break- contr°-
. versy.
ing in with great impetuosity among those of his
persuasion ; and who hath thereby been very ser
viceable, in reclaiming great numbers from their
r [In Latin and English, 1654.]
222 THE LIFE OF
1676. absurd and false notions, concerning the Gospel of
our Lord, and the terms of salvation, and bringing
them to a right sense of the nature of his satisfac
tion, and our justification ; even as Mr. Bull had
done. Dr. Williams ma)7 be said to have succeeded
Mr. Baxter in the management of these disputes,
as he also incurred thereby the same hard censure
from some of his own brethren, as if he were a
maintainer of opinions inconsistent with the doc
trine of Christ's satisfaction, and so had given up
the cause to the Socinians. And as Mr. Bull and
Mr. Baxter had before suffered in this cause, so it
fell also to the lot of this last advocate for the truth
to suffer in like manner ; and as many as were of
his judgment also, to be charged together with him,
for abetting Pelagianism, Socinianism, and Armin-
ianism.
Theocca- The occasion now which engaged him in this
engaged controversy, after that it seemed to have been laid
contro-1 'S asleep, was this ; Dr. Crisp's book, the fountain of
Rjj these errors, was by his son, Mr. Samuel Crisp,
reprinted in or about the year 1690s, when the So-
cinian controversy was here very hotly agitated,
with additions, and with the names of several of the
presbyterian and independent ministers prefixed, as
approving the same. By the means of this book,
thus recommended and authorized, the poison of
antinomianism soon spread, not only in the country,
but infected this great city to that degree, that the
s [Tobias Crisp was a puritan, born in 1600, and died in 1642.
He published fourteen sermons, with the title of Christ alone ex
alted, in 1643. His son published a book in 1691, called Christ
made Sin, evinced in Defence of his Father Dr. Tobias Crisp's
Sermons.^
DR. GEORGE BULL. 223
more sober of the presbyterian ministers were scarce 1676.
able to preach a sermon, wherein either hope was
asserted by conditional promises, or the fear of sin
was pressed by the divine threatenings, but they
were immediately censured and condemned, as ene
mies of Christ and of free-grace ; and especially
were cried out against violently by many of the
anabaptists and independents. Yea, one of them
preaching at Pinner's hall, that repentance was ne
cessary to the remission of sins, that pulpit was soon
filled with the hardest censures against the presby-
terians. At the request of many of the ministers of
that persuasion, Mr. Williams undertook therefore
to confute that book, which was the chief source of
this evil. This he did, first by a sermon at Pinner's-
hall, and afterwards by a book called Gospel Truths
stated and vindicated: wherein some of the more
dangerous of Dr. Crisp's opinions were considered,
and the opposite truths plainly stated and con
firmed.
His method is, always to state the truth and the His method
i i -, i i in this con-
error upon each head, then to prove that this lasttroversy.
was the opinion of Dr. Crisp; after that, to shew
wherein the difference is not; and this being done,
to declare what the real and proper difference is.
And having thus explained and stated the case, by
preventing several mistakes, and determining where
in the real difference consisteth between the con
tending parties, his way is, to confirm the truth
opposed to such a particular error, by that which is
owned on both sides for the rule of faith ; then to
produce corroborating testimonies from the approved
catechisms and confessions both of the presbyterian
and independent body, as of the general assembly
224 THE LIFE OF
1676. at Westminster, the New-England synod, and the
congregational elders at the Savoy, besides those of
such particular writers as are by them generally
esteemed most orthodox ; and lastly, to give the
ground of the doctor's mistake. This he hath done
in about twenty several points, with much plainness :
and it cannot be made appear, after all, that his
adversaries have been able to say, that he hath in
any of them misrepresented Dr. Crisp's opinions, or
mistaken his sense ; there being no fairer method
than that which he hath chosen.
This book was first published in May 1692, with
the approbation of Dr. Bates, Mr. How, Mr. Alsop,
Mr. Showers, and a dozen more of the dissenting
ministers : and to the second edition of it, were
added the names of double the number. After
which came forth a third edition of the same, with
other names, and a large postscript, for clearing
sundry truths, added to it. But Dr. Chauncy, and
others of that sort, wrote against that book, in vin
dication of Dr. Crisp, denying Gospel threatenings,
with the rest. To all this, the reply of Mr. Wil
liams, called A defence of Gospel Truth, was, by
the ablest judges, thought sufficient. Notwithstand
ing, Mr. Mather, another independent preacher,
published a sermon about justification, wherein he
asserted, that believers were as righteous as Christ
himself; that the covenant of grace was not condi
tional : with other dangerous opinions of the like
stamp. Him also this author answered, by a book
called, Man made Righteous ; wherein he treated
of the Gospel-law, the mediating suretyship of Christ,
his imputed righteousness how consistent with faith
and repentance, as conditions of justification ; sin-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 225
cere persevering holiness and obedience, as con- 1676.
ditions of consummate salvation, and this by the
Gospel constitution. To this book none replied.
There was also a paper, signed lay Mr. Griffith,
and several others of the eminent independents,
wherein they excepted against several passages in
Gospel Truth stated, besides some general charges
against the whole. Which paper was examined by
the author, in his postscript to the third edition
thereof, and all their objections fully considered.
But whether any manner of answer was returned
by them to this reply of his, I do not know ; cer
tain it is, that they were hard put to it. Hence
Mr. Stephen Lob, who long after two editions of
this book, had so acquitted it in print, as to adven
ture to tell the world, that there was no difference
between Mr. Chauncy and Mr. Williams, when after
wards, for certain purposes, he turned an objector
against it, thought fit to wave all the former excep
tions of his brethren, in that paper contained, save
one or two. So sensible was he, that the author of
Gospel Truth had been too hastily charged by
them, and that they would never be able to make
good their objections: and therefore he thought it
convenient and prudent to drop them all but the
first and the last, which he judged more defensible
than the rest, as being general charges, of not hav
ing always rightly stated truth and error, or rightly
interpreted the Scriptures.
Mr. Lob then, though no direct antinomian, yet M|-- L<)t'
c starts a new
willing to uphold the independent party, endea- controversy,
voured to save their reputation, by starting a new
controversy about commutation of persons betwixt
Christ and believers. His pretence was, that Mr.
226 THE LIFE OF
1676. Williams must deny this, which by all the orthodox
"had been generally acknowledged, and hardly by
any disliked, but by the Socinians, and other here
tics near akin to them ; because he had denied
what Crisp called, a change of person., (not persons,
in the plural,) that is, a change of condition and
state between Christ and a sinner; Christ thereby
becoming as sinful as we, and we as righteous as he.
And he alleged, that Dr. Stillingfleet, the bishop of
Worcester, had, in his most learned and judicious
Discourse, concerning the doctrine of Christ's Sa
tisfaction, with Grotius, expressly affirmed a com
mutation of persons, and irrefragably proved it with
the common sentiment of protestants.
Mr. w;i- Upon which a letter was sent by Mr. Williams
" es to the bishop, desiring his judgment as to these
three questions; 1. What was his sense of commu
tation of persons ? 2. Whether the author of Gospel
Truth stated was chargeable with Socinianism ?
And, 3. Whether Dr. Crisp's sense, concerning the
change of person, or persons, were true or false?
His answer to which he therefore insisted on, be
cause his lordship's book was pleaded against him.
After this, Mr. Lob wrote to the bishop, acquainting
him, that there having been a controversy among
the dissenters, about the doctrine of Christ's satis
faction, some of the most eminent among them,
such as Dr. Bates, Mr. How, &c., did, in a paper
sent to some other brethren for reconciliation, men
tion his lordship's sense about the asserting a com
mutation of persons between Christ and believers,
as necessary to a due explanation and defence of the
said doctrine : and there being, on the other hand,
another person of esteem among them [meaning
DR. GEORGE BULL. 227
Mr. Williams] who was for casting off the phrase, 1676.
of a change of person between Christ and us, and
for allowing only a change of persons, in the sense
understood by his lordship, namely, a substitution
in the room and place of another; his lordship's
judgment being therefore referred unto, it would be
in him a most Christian part, if he would conde
scend to give them his impartial thoughts of this
point, as being likely, on both hands, to be so
received, as to compose the differences between
them.
But before this letter came to the bishop, he had The bishop
already answered Mr. Williams, as to the three w
questions proposed, and had with great freedom and
impartiality, as well as with singular candour and
judgment, after he had perused the papers on both
sides which came to his hands, given his sense of
the things which are mentioned in both their letters.
This letter of the bishop's, whereby Mr. Williams
was fully vindicated, was printed for his justification
against Mr. Lob, in his Answer to the Report, &c.,
which the united ministers appointed their com
mittee to draw up. And Mr. Lob could not but
declare himself, upon reading it, to be abundantly
satisfied with what the bishop had writ in his letter
to Mr. Williams, about a commutation of persons,
the guilt of sin, and his confutation of Dr. Crisp;
only he wished the bishop's information had been
more full. The bishop having answered Mr. Lob's
first letter, and therein justified again Mr. Williams
from the heavy imputations against him, and ex
pressed his sincere and hearty endeavours for pre
venting all needless as well as dangerous controver
sies, among those who did truly own the doctrine
228
1676. of Christ's satisfaction, Mr. Lob replied to him
in a second letter, thanking him for the favour of
his answer, and informing him of an appeal di
rected to his lordship, which he was preparing for
the press.
An appeal The design of which appeal was, that the bishop
late bishop might have a fuller state of matters in controversy
ter by°Mr. among them, and so might be more able to put an
Lob. encj £O their differences, in a point so perfectly studied
by him. The bishop was therefore made acquainted
by Mr. Lob, that some sheets of his were almost
ready for the press, giving the true reasons of the
dissatisfaction of some among them with Mr. Wil
liams, which were intended by way of appeal, to be
addressed to him ; because he had so truly stated
their true sense about Christ's satisfaction : withal
begging to know his lordship's pleasure, whether he
should send it to him first in manuscript, or not till
printed. The bishop answered Mr. Lob's second
letter without any delay, telling him, that he should
be glad to see the papers he made mention of when
they should be printed, but that he would not have
him give himself the trouble to send them before;
for since they related to matters of fact, he could be
no competent judge of them. And as to the wish
ing he had received fuller information of some mat
ters, the bishop told him, it was a thing out of his
power; and that he could only judge of what he
had seen. At the same time the bishop justified
Mr. Williams afresh, as to his orthodoxy in the con
troverted points; and declaring himself very well
pleased, to find that Mr. Lob did disown Dr. Crisp's
antinomian principles, he gave both him and his
brethren to understand, that they would do them-
DR. GEORGE BULL.
selves a great deal of right, to condemn the propo- 1676.
sitions which they insist upon. As soon therefore as
Mr. Lob had printed his appeal, he sent it to the
bishop of Worcester, to be by him considered,
complimenting him in the beginning of it with
his thanks, not only for what related to the article
of satisfaction, but for his confutation of Dr. Crisp,
and intimating, that whereas the bishop had sus
pected a fondness for that doctor's notions lay at
the bottom of all these heats, the condemning the
propositions by his brethren, (as was propounded
by the bishop,) would evince the contrary. But
then this was deferred, till satisfaction should be
given them, as to what Mr. Williams was charged
with.
This printed appeal of Mr. Lob was considered The appeal
by that great and learned prelate with an amazing by"theeie
exactness, as one who was a perfect master of theblshop'
cause; but he lived not to finish his answer to it,
which he undertook, being invited both by the ap
peal and by those letters, in order to compose those
differences among the united and dissenting brethren
which related to the Antinomian and Socinian con
troversies. However, he hath given the world a
true state of both these controversies, in perfect
agreement with the principles advanced and de
fended by our Mr. Bull, as well as the true occasion
of the late differences among the dissenters about
these. Then he hath so laid open the mystery of
antinomianism, from the writings of Dr. Crisp, as
if he had studied these for several years together.
Moreover, he hath so explained the state of the
Socinian controversy, with respect to the differences
at that time of the dissenters about it, for which he
230 THE LIFE OF
,676. was appealed to; and hath so fully vindicated both
- Mr. Baxter and Mr. Williams from the charge of
yielding too much to the Socinians; as that reader
must be very partial indeed, who will not own that
he hath done justice to the cause which was referred
to him, and set matters in a much clearer light than
ever they were before in. Now Mr. Lob had ex
pressed a very great earnestness to have the bishop's
judgment; because (he said) some were labouring to
make Christ's sufferings so merely voluntary, as not
to be penal, or not properly penal, but improperly
and materially so, and our sins as not to be the
impulsive meritorious cause of them. The bishop
therefore, in answer to him, hath treated distinctly
and clearly about Christ's sufferings, being a proper
punishment for our sins, and about the change of
persons between Christ and us, and his suffering in
our stead.
Theques- The same questions, that had been sent to the
late bishop of Worcester, were likewise sent Dr.
"Jonathan Edwards, the late learned and worthy
sej* principal of Jesus college in Oxford ; because Mr.
nathan Lol), in his remarks, pretended that Mr. Williams's
Edwards
likewise, opinion, concerning a commutation of persons, was
by him condemned, in his Preservative against
Socinianism. Whereupon Dr. Edwards, in a letter
to the said Mr. Williams, justified him also against
his accusers ; fully acquitting him from giving any
countenance to the errors of Socinus ; and telling
him, that he had very rightly, and in an orthodox
manner, stated the doctrine of Christ's satisfaction ;
and that as to the doctrine of Dr. Crisp, and others
of that sect, concerning the permutation of person
between Christ and the sinner, he could not but
DR. GEORGE BULL.
look upon it to be, " not only false, absurd, and im- 1676.
" possible, but also an impious and blasphemous
" opinion, as being highly dishonourable to our
" Saviour, repugnant to the wisdom and justice of
" God, and tending plainly to subvert the whole
" design of Christianity." So that it was impossible
for any one to be more fully vindicated than Mr.
Williams was, against the charge of his adversaries,
by these two eminent divines of our church ; to
whose writings and persons an appeal had been
laid in from his zealous accuser. The bishop
abundantly acquitted him, and condemned the pro
ceedings against him as hard and unreasonable :
the good doctor, who had made himself famous for
writing against the errors of Socinus, honourably
discharged him in like manner from the imputation
of Socinianism, by declaring to him, / mean no more
than what you affirm.
Thus the new impression of Crisp's Sermons, A further
with twelve names in great letters appearing in the the state of
beginning of the book, to honour it, having awakened11
some of the more zealous among them, called the
United Brethren, to consider of some proper expe
dient to obviate the growth of those errors, the
revival whereof they concluded would make their
ministry useless, and unity impossible ; this contro
versy, which had been before so fully and unanswer
ably determined, by the excellent writings of our
author, especially in his answer to Gataker, broke
out afresh with the utmost violence, but not in the
church. For the whole was carried on among the
dissenters only, till this reference was made, when
they began to be weary of disputing, as seeing no
end thereof ; and bishop Stillingfleet thereupon took
232 THE LIFE OF
1676. the cause into his own hands, and upon a full
examination of both parties settled the just bounds
between the Antinomian and Socinian extremes, so
far as these related to the differences on foot among
them ; which was the occasion of the second part
of his Discourse concerning the Doctrine of Christ's
Satisfaction ; which he left the Christian church for
his legacy of peace. So Dr. Crisp's book was that
which awakened this whole controversy, by its being
published in such a manner ; and was the occasion
of Mr. Williams's examination of his opinions, to
which he was solicited and encouraged by several
of his brethren ; whose attestation to his book, was
not merely to the right stating of truths and errors
therein, but as a considerable service to the Church
of Christ, and as a means for the reclaiming of
those, who have been misled into such dangerous
opinions, and for the establishing any that waver
in any of these truths. But upon the coming forth
of this book it was observed, that such a furious
zeal against the author and his book broke out, as
had almost overset the united brethren with their
union. For in October following, a paper was
delivered in to the said brethren, subscribed by
six dissenting ministers, importing an high and
heavy charge against the author and his work : but
the objections were looked upon either as frivolous
or groundless, and some of the citations to be
quite contrary to the letter of his expressions, pre
tended to be cited, and so not deserving to be taken
notice of.
Notwithstanding which, Dr. Chauncy, one of the
subscribers, in a meeting of the united ministers,
declared that he would break off from their union,
DR. GEORGE BULL. 233
because they bad taken no cognizance of the paper 1676.
of objections against Mr. Williams's book. Some
considerable time after this, when other ways had
been found unsuccessful, a person was appointed
more narrowly to examine Mr. Williams's books,
and to collect out of them what errors he could dis
cover ; and accordingly another paper of objections
was drawn up against him : and whereas in the for
mer paper there was not one word tending to the
charge of Socinianism, upon this fresh examination,
that was now thought fit to be added to the weight
of the other exceptions against him ; and was wisely
put into the hands of such a person to manage, who
could not be suspected for antinomianism ; he
having not only refused to set his name to the new
impression of Dr. Crisp's Sermons, because it looked,
as he said, like giving too much countenance to the
notions in them, but had written also against some
of them with great indignation, and rebuked se
verely such as seemed to trim in favour of anti
nomianism. But these papers were replied to by
Mr. Williams ; yet, notwithstanding all he could
say or write for himself, the charge of Socinianism
was carried on against him with no small vehe
mence. He solemnly protested, * "That he owned
" Christ's eternal generation as the Son of God,
" and of one essence with the Father ; that he be-
" lieved the doctrine of satisfaction by the sufferings
" of Christ in our stead, and that his sufferings
" were punishments satisfactory to divine justice
" for our sins ; that Christ was a proper sacrifice,
" and himself the priest, that offered it upon earth ;
* Mr. Williams's Answer to Mr. H.'s Letter, p. 7.
234 THE LIFE OF
1676. " that his obedience is properly meritorious of all
~~ " our saving benefits, and himself a proper '
" in his death." All this was not sufficient to clear
him : it was urged, he used some phrases and ex
pressions as the Socinians did, and that perhaps he
might be a Socinian and not know it, and more to
the same purpose. But all the objections of this
nature are demonstratively answered by that most
learned prelate, to whom the matter was on both
sides referred.
HOW this When Mr. Lob and his brethren now found they
controversy . , , . .
was corn- could not gain their point, but that his party became
suspected of Dr. Crisp's errors, by that time much
exploded through the prevailing of the opposite
truths, they thought fit to draw up a sort of confes
sion, wherein they cleared themselves of the most
dangerous of Crisp's opinions, according to the re
peated advice of the late bishop of Worcester, though
not so fully and clearly as he had proposed : and
Mr. Lob being now better reconciled desired Mr.
Williams to put the best sense on that confession,
that so a period might be set to these debates ; Mr.
Williams readily consented, and wrote thereupon,
and printed a few sheets, called An End of Dis
cord ; wherein he stated the orthodox, as also the
Socinian and Antinomian notions, as to Christ's satis
faction ; and represented the confession of those more
sober independents as orthodox, as their words with
the most charitable construction could bear. Thus
ended then this controversy among the dissenters.
The success The number of antinomians among the dissenters
that follow
ed here- were so reduced, at length, by the methods which
had been taken, that I am creditably informed by a
considerable man, who cannot but know the state of
Dll. GEORGE BULL. 235
this affair, that there are not now left above three 1676.
or four preachers of that sort, (at least known to
him,) and those of no esteem. So that men, he
saith, can without clamour now publish the truth :
yea, and most of the independents and anabaptists
in this city, especially the last, do preach, as I am
informed, against antinomianism. Which great
change for the better is to be ascribed in a great
measure, under God, to the indefatigable and zealous
pains of Dr. Williams, for promoting the truths of
the Gospel, concerning Christ's satisfaction and our
justification., according as they are both most solidly
stated and explained, first by our excellent u author,
and then by bishop Stillingfleet ; not without a par
ticular respect to the true sense and false notion of
commutation of persons, which was the cause of so
great discord. As he hath been among the dis
senters an instrument for putting a stop to those
pernicious errors, and as his conviction that the es
sentials of Christianity were struck at by his op-
posers, together with the aptitude of an evangelical
ministry, for promoting practical holiness ; (which
appear to have been the motives principally inclining
him to contend with a strong party, who would
leave nothing unattempted to crush him if possible ;)
his name, I think, ought to be mentioned with re
spect, and this short account of the controversy,
wherein he was engaged for many years, is but a
piece of justice that is due to him, for the good ser
vice he hath done in the cause of truth. It is almost
incredible how much he was a sufferer, in and for
the defence of it, from some who were too apt to act
u Examen Censune, Resp. ad Animad. xi. Apol. sect. vi.
236 THE LIFE OF
1676. their principles against such as opposed them. But
~~ he had counted the cost, as he writeth in a letter to
me, even though his life had been sacrificed. And
indeed his good name, which to many is more pre
cious than life itself, was attacked hereupon in the
most desperate manner ; though it did but all tend
to his fuller justification before all good men, and
his greater triumph over his adversaries. For after
about eight weeks spent in an inquiry into his life
by a committee of the united ministers, which re
ceived all manner of complaints and accusations
against him, it was declared at a general meeting,
as their unanimous opinion, and repeated and agreed
to in three several meetings successively, that he
was * entirely clear and innocent of all that was
laid to his charge. Thus both his book arid his
person were vindicated in the amplest form, after
the strictest examination that could be made ; and
his and the truth's adversaries put to silence. But
to return to Mr. Bull.
Mr. Bull XLIX. Upon the publication of the Harmonia
bend^r^of Apostolica, Mr. Bull's reputation, which was before
by°thT<S conmied to the narrow bounds of his own neigh-
ham°tting kourh°°d, began to extend itself among the learned,
not only in this kingdom, but in foreign parts.
Some prejudices indeed at first were raised against
him by his adversaries, who attacked him with great
vehemency, and some great men were made to be
lieve, that through want of orthodoxy he was not
fit to be preferred. But when he made his answers
to those objections, which were prest upon him ; and
x Postscript to Gospel Truth, p. 301 — 308.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 237
published his Examen Ctmsura, and his apology for 1676.
himself, and the treatise he had wrote ; the world
quickly saw how little he deserved the calumnies
which were thrown upon him, and he began to shine
the brighter for having been under some eclipse.
And this was farther confirmed by those who were
in the sentiments of his adversaries, (for they were
dead themselves,) who were silenced by what he
offered in his own defence, and never pretended to
make any reply.
The knowledge of his character, thus cleared by
his own nervous pen, quickly reached the then lord
chancellor, who having been made lord keeper of the
great seal in 1673, was shortly after that advanced
to the degree of a baron of this realm, by the title of
lord Finch of Daventry, and in 1675 was made lord
high chancellor of England ; and farther in testimony
of his many faithful services, which his lordship had
rendered the crown, he was in 1681 created earl of
Nottingham. His lordship was justly esteemed the
great oracle of the law in his time, and so perfect a
master in the art of speaking, that he passed for the
English Cicero ; yet his great understanding, his elo
quent tongue, and his titles of honour, did not give
his name so lasting a lustre, as that piety and virtue
wherewith he adorned his high station, which is but
too often starved in so rich a soil, and thriveth best
in a private life.
Among the many very commendable qualities ofTheeariof
i • tft i r- /> i Notting-
this great man, his zeal for the welfare of the ham's me-
Church of England was not the least conspicu- stowing his
ous ; which particularly shewed itself in the careprefer~
ments.
he took in disposing of those ecclesiastical prefer
ments, which were in the gift of the seal. He
238 THE LIFE OF
1676. judged rightly in looking upon that privilege as a
trust for the good of the Church of God, of which he
was to °'ive a strict account ; and therefore being
sensible that the several duties of his great post, as
first minister of state, as lord chancellor, and as
speaker of the house of lords, would not allow his
lordship time and leisure to make that inquiry which
was necessary to know the characters of such as
were candidates for preferment, he devolved this
particular province upon his chaplain, whose con
science he charged with an impartial scrutiny in this
matter; adding withal, that he would prefer none
but those \vho came recommended from him ; and
that if he led him wrong, the blame should fall upon
his own soul.
The present It is true, that this was a great testimony of my
archbishop .
of York lords entire confidence in the uprightness as well
chaplain, as the capacity of his chaplain ; but the world will
quickly be satisfied with what caution and judgment
his lordship took his measures, when they shall
know, that his then chaplain was Dr. Sharp, the
present lord archbishop of York, who fills one of the
archiepiscopal thrones of the Church of England,
with that universal applause, which is due to his
grace's distinguishing merit; whose elevation hath
not deprived him of his humility, but he exerciseth
the same affability and courtesy towards all men,
which he practised in a lower sphere. And that
learning and piety, that integrity and zeal for the
glory of God, which influence his grace in the govern
ment of his diocese and of his province, were pecu
liarly serviceable to the earl of Nottingham, in the
charge his lordship laid upon him with so much
solemnity. From a lord chancellor so well disposed
DR. GEORGE BULL. 239
to secure the welfare of the church, by preferring men 1676.
of unblemished characters, and who was blest with a
chaplain, faithful and discerning to distinguish them,
Mr. Bull received a prebend in the church of Glou
cester, in which he was installed the 9th of October,
1678^. And as a testimony of his gratitude, he l6;8.
designed a public acknowledgment of his lordship's
favour, in dedicating to him his Fidei Nicence De-
fensio, which was the next book he published ; but
before it appeared, this great man died, in whom the
church lost a faithful and zealous friend, and learning
and piety a generous and constant patron.
L. In the year 1680, Mr. Bull finished his De-
fensio Fidei Nicence., whereof he had given an hint finishes his
five years before in his Apology ; which excited thethe
curiosity of several learned men, to desire that heFaith'
would put his last hand to a work so very useful and
necessary, as this did appear to them. For having
been obliged to clear himself from the charge of So-
cinianism, which had been brought against him
without any ground to support it, he was under a
sort of necessity of declaring, " how he had been for
" some time before drawing up certain Historico-
" Ecclesiastical Theses, concerning the Godhead of
" the Son, wherein he trusted, that he had plainly
" demonstrated both the consubstantiality and the
y [Wood says, that he owed this preferment to " the endeavour
" of Dr. John Tillotson :" and Birch, in his Life of Tillotson, p.
53, finds fault with Nelson for omitting this fact. But since
Nelson was an intimate friend of Tillotson at this time, may he
not have asked him to use his interest in favour of Bull, and
therefore have passed over the circumstance, as not likeing to
mention himself ?]
THE LIFE OF
1680. " coeternity of the Son of God, from the consent of
~" the ancient doctors of the church, who lived before
" the council of Nice, with the Nicene Fathers, by
" a tradition derived from the very apostolical age
« itself."
Arian and ^ow about the same time, and for some years be-
Sociniaii . . .
writers in fore, there were several Arian and bocmian pieces
spreaTtheir published in Holland, and dispersed in England,
here!'68 written by some learned men, that were fled thither
out of Prussia and Poland, who had fallen into one
of those schemes, and presumed themselves able to
maintain one and the other of them, against the re
ceived catholic doctrine. And though the Socinians
indeed were generally for having the controversy de
cided by Scripture and reason only, without regard
ing the testimony of the most ancient Christian
writers ; yet the Arians were herein of another mind ;
and had some disputations with the Socinians in
Holland upon their singular tenets, condemning
them for condemning the use of the primitive Fa
thers ; and making a very high boast of these, as if
almost all of them, who lived before the first council
of Nice, were of their party and sentiment.
A fault ob- Some learned men also, who had undertaken to
some leTm- defend the doctrine of the Trinity, while they owned
wri^and tne meaning of the primitive Fathers to be generally
the reason- most sound and orthodox as to this point, but con-
ameness or
thistreatise. fessed their expressions not to be so very cautious
and exact before, as after, the said council, did give
an occasion thence for the adversaries to triumph, as
if the cause were therefore presently their own. So
that nothing in the world could be more seasonable
at this time, than such a treatise, to put some check
to the exceeding confidence of some certain writers,
DK. GEORGE BULL. 241
and to vindicate the ancient truths of Christianity so 1680.
violently attacked. Upon these considerations Mr.
Bull thought that he could not better employ his
labour, especially at his leisure hours, than in this
most important work for the service of the church :
but he complained, that both through the ill state of
his health, and through the great variety of other
cares and business lying upon his hands, he had not
been able to perfect it for the press as he had de
signed, when he printed his reply to Dr. Tully ; nei
ther could he for some years afterwards, meeting
with continual obstacles and impediments.
But his friends not failing to challenge the per- HOW the
formance of what he had now so publicly mentioned, w
and representing to him withal what danger there
was in letting some books of Sandius2, which did in
of being ut-
openlv defend the Arian to be the true catholic doc- teriy sti-
fled.
trine, and that by the tradition of the Ante-Nicene
Fathers, pass among young students of divinity
without a proper antidote ; Mr. Bull with great
earnestness resumed the work, read over all those
Fathers again, and finished it as now it is. After
which he offered the copy to a bookseller, and he re
fusing it, to another, and after him to a third ; and
none being found willing to undertake the impres
sion, or to venture the charge of it, he brought it
home, and laid the thoughts of printing it wholly
aside. For being but in low circumstances, and
having a large family of children to support, it was
not possible for him to furnish out the expense him
self for printing, as he was inclinable enough to have
done had he been able. And so this excellent book
z [Particularly the Nucleus Historia: Ecclesiastics, 1669.]
R
242 THE LIFE OF
1680. might have lain buried for ever, and never so much
~~ as once been heard of after this, had not a certain
worthy friend of the author's, some few years after,
advised him to put his neglected copy into the hands
of Dr. Jane, the regius professor then of divinity, in
the university of Oxford, and to submit the same to
his censure and disposal.
By what Accordingly Mr. Bull took his papers, he says, as
Tme^be it were out of the grave, and committed them to the
ribST1 pr°fessor to d° with them as he sn°uid think fit-
Fell. Who, having carefully read them over, was pleased,
not only to declare his approbation of them, for the
sake of the great learning therein contained, but also
effectually to recommend this work, which had af
forded him so much satisfaction, to the favour and
patronage of that great promoter of learning and
piety, bishop Fell. This great and good prelate,
being not a little glad to hear that the holy catholic
faith, in the most fundamental point of it, was so learn
edly defended against some modern pretenders to an
tiquity, was presently for encouraging the printing of
it, for a general benefit ; nor had he need of solicita
tion, to print a book of this nature at his own expense,
which so highly tended, as he was fully persuaded,
to vindicate the honour of our blessed Lord, and the
veracity of his faithful witnesses in the earliest ages
of Christianity.
1685. Thus, in the year 1685, there was published from
^thelhe-13 the tlieatre m Oxford, the bishop thereof taking
J^in0x-upon him the charge of the impression, this most
noble defence of the Nicene Faith., out of the writ
ings of the catholic doctors, who flourished within
the three first centuries of the Christian church :
wherein also the Constantinopolitan Confession,
DR. GEORGE BULL.
concerning the Holy Ghost, is incidently confirmed <685-
by the testimonies likewise of the ancients. For
whereas in the ancient creeds and formularies of
faith, the deity of the Son is principally and more
largely declared, but that of the Holy Ghost is for
the most part only hinted at, and in a few words,
the learned author made it his chief care in this
treatise, to defend that rather than this ; as con
sidering, that if he could beget and confirm in his
readers the true faith concerning the Son of God,
they might with ease then be brought to receive and
continue in a right confession, concerning the Spirit
of God.
LI. The learned Petavius had been at prodigious what Pe-
. , it • tavius had
pains indeed, in collecting all that the Christian written on
writers have said, both before and after that council, 't
upon this subject: but after all, this most laborious ^tMici
work of his was so far from giving satisfaction, or and chal
lenged l>y
advancing much the cause for which he undertook Anon*.
to write, as, on the contrary, some even suspected
the author to be himself all the while no better than
a covert Arian, and to have written, even on pur
pose to betray the cause for which he appeared, than
which nothing can be more false ; as any one may
soon convince himself, that will be but at the pains
to examine what he hath written : wherefore the
great reviver of Arianism in the last age, is by our
author most deservedly exploded, for his most confi
dent assertion, that it was impossible but Petavius must
have been firmly in himself persuaded, that the Trin
ity of the Arians, and not that of the Homoousians,
was an article of the catholic faith : notwithstanding
on a double account he was carried to declare him-
R 2
244 THE LIFE OF
1685. self, though against his mind, for the Homoousians
~ rather than for the Arians ; namely, that he might
both escape all those mischiefs and persecutions
which he had reason to fear from the church of
Rome, in case it could have been proved against
him, that he had revolted from her faith to embrace
Arianism ; and that also the Arians might be able
thence to bring a better proof of their doctrine from
a professed adversary, and to build even upon his
ground their own superstructure ; as that writer
had endeavoured to do in his much boasted book
of church history ; which, by this very learned de
fence of the faith, as it was in the council of Nice
declared and established, is most substantially
confuted.
HOW far por though Petavius was a member of that so-
vindicated D
herein a- cietv, which is most of all hated among us, and of
gainst San-
dhis.byMr. whom nothing almost can be said so black, which
-p* 11 o
will not presently be believed by vast numbers ; yet
Mr. Bull was not for taking any advantage of this
popular odium, or for charging a person of his great
character in the learned world with the most flagi
tious treachery, either from general prejudices against
the order whereof he was a member, or from parti
cular conjectures about his method of managing this
controversy. On the contrary, he condemned San-
dius for his rashness in passing so severe a censure,
thinking his suspicion altogether groundless, and
that it could proceed from nothing but an extreme
partiality for his own sect.
His con- If any conjecture may be allowed of in such a
jecture whv . , " . T t , . ,
' case, there is, 1 think, none more probable, than that
auS?horeky«fwhich he liath advanced concerning this learned
Ni^eTa- Jesuit ; and this he clid after a nice and thorough
thers.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 245
examination of his work : it is, that Petavius must 1685.
have consulted in it the cause of the pope, rather
than of Arius, and the support of the present
church of Rome, than of any one sect : for sup
posing that the catholic writers of the three first
centuries were almost all of the same opinion, which
was afterwards condemned in Arius for heresy, by
the council of Nice ; or that they writ after such a
manner, as they might at least be thought to hold
the same opinion which he did, by their loose way
of expressing themselves : it will thence easily fol
low, as he hath truly a observed, that there is very
little regard to be had to the Fathers of the three
first ages, to whom the reformed catholics generally
do appeal, if so be that the chief articles of the
Christian faith were not yet sufficiently manifested :
and also, that general councils have a power of
making new articles of faith, or of manifesting and
declaring them, as that writer would rather have it
worded ; and consequently that all the additions
which have been tacked to the primitive faith, by
the pretended general council of Trent, ought to be
received without examining. Now Petavius, as well
as some other great men of his order, may be
suspected by the protestants, as having had some
such bias as this in their writings, without much
breach of charity. Mr. Bull, however, in opposing
him, was very tender as to this charge against him,
not determining any thing in the matter, but leaving
it to be decided by the searcher of all hearts ; and is
not unwilling to think, that possibly he might have
• no design, by his writing with so little respect for
* Prooem. §.8.
246 THE LIFE OF
,685. the authority of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, to pro-
" mote the interest either of Arianism or Popery ; but
that it proceeded purely from a certain boldness and
rashness in censuring the ancients, which was fami
liar to him. But howsoever this might be, most
certain it is, that the modern Arians found them
selves not a little gratified by his labours ; and the
orthodox on the other hand complained, that he had
wronged both the Nicene and Ante-Nicene Fa
thers.
HOW Peta- LJL Now the very same thing which was charged
vius was 1 • i i • i
succeeded upon Petavius, a popish, was unhappily likewise
y charged upon Curcellseus, a protestant writer : and
ivus. -t cannot ^g dgnie^ but that the Arians made their
advantage of both these learned authors, and endea
voured to persuade the world, that they were really
of their side ; howsoever, for prudential reasons, they
might think fit to disguise a little their own senti
ments. His preface to the works of Episcopiusb
made him first to be suspected, and Maresius0, an
hot Calvinist, and one who had also a personal pique
against him, took thence occasion of accusing him
publicly of heresy in the points of the Trinity and
Incarnation. It is true, that Curcellseus'1 complain
ed, that Maresius had injured him in a very un
christian manner, and that his accusation of him was
11 \_0pera Tlu-ologicu, 1650 and 1665.]
c [Joanna Papissa restituta, #c. cum brevi Refutatione Praefa-
tionis Apologetics Curcella'cnur, 1658. and again, Defensio Fidel
Catholics adversus Steph. Curcellceum, 1662.]
d Stephani Curcellsei Quaternio Dissertationum Theolugica-
rum adversus Samuelem Maresium, Opus posthumum. Am-
tftcl. 1689.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 247
utterly false and ungrounded: and Maresius, in his 1685.
Anti-Trinus, having frequently called him an Anti-
trinitarian, he made answer, that he was very far
from deserving that name, forasmuch as he could be
no Antitrinitarian, or enemy of the blessed Trinity,
who acknowledged the doctrine thereof, as laid down
in the holy Scriptures. He challenged his adversary
to shew, that he had any ways deviated from the
faith which was delivered by the apostles of Christ,
or even from the explication thereof, by the most
ancient and approved writers of the church : loudly
asserting, that the orthodox doctrine concerning Fa
ther, Son, and Holy Ghost, was by him believed and
maintained, according as it was revealed to the
church ; and that it was a gross falsehood and in
justice therefore to pretend, that he was an adver
sary to it, or had expressed any manner of dislike to
it by word or writing. He pleaded moreover his
baptism in the common and catholic form with all
Christians, and his solemn profession when grown up
with the church universal, " That he believed in one
" God, the Father Almighty, the Creator of heaven
" and earth, and in his only-begotten Son, Jesus
" Christ, in whom, besides the human nature, there
" was also the divine nature, which not only existed
" before his birth of the Virgin Mary, but even from
" eternity ; and in the Holy Ghost, who proceedeth
" from the Father, and is sent by the Son."
This is the summary which he hath given us of
his belief of the holy Trinity, and which he ex-
plaineth and defendeth by arguments and testimo
nies from antiquity ; to which he was not such a
stranger as his master Episcopius, having taken a
048 THE LIFE OF
1685. great deal of pains to sift this matter as well as lie
~ could, and to run it up to the head. For though he
every where declareth himself for sticking closely to
none but the Scripture account of this article, and is
for discarding thence the use of scholastical terms in
this whole controversy ; he is nevertheless busied
much to prove, that his exposition thereof is con
formable to that of the ancients, and no ways dis
agreeable to the true sense of those very terms, con
cerning the use whereof he had some scruples upon
him.
Thus if you take his own account, there would be
no man more orthodox and catholic than he is in the
doctrine of the Trinity, as also in that of the incar
nation of Christ. And he insisted, that both from
the pulpit and from the chair he had always taught
and vindicated that faith, into which he had been
baptized, and which he had publicly professed in the
congregation, according to the form generally re
ceived ; and did even teach and vindicate the same
at that very time, when the charge of Antitrini-
tarianism was brought against him. Yea, he ex
pressed so great a zeal for the orthodox doctrine in
this great fundamental, as he would seem forward
to seal the truth thereof even with his blood, if,
as he said, God should vouchsafe him this honour.
Notwithstanding all this, it is notoriously known,
and that from his own very apology, that he was no
less an enemy to the first council of Nice than his
master before him, if not more than he ; that he was
no friend at all to the use of the word Trinity ; that
he so explained himself concerning that mystery, as
to assert no more than a specifical unity in the
DR. GEOKGE BULL.
divine persons; that he defended the cause of Va- 1685.
lentinus Gentilis, beheaded at Bern in Switzerland6,
for Tritheism, maintaining his doctrine to have been
the same with that of the primitive Fathers ; parti
cularly of Ignatius, Justin Martyr, Irenseus, Athe-
nagoras, Tertullian, and Clemens Alexandrinus ; that
he impeached the common (which he called the mo
dern and scholastical) doctrine of the Trinity, for
approaching so very near Sabcllianism, as hardly to
be distinguished from it, and charged it to be a
thousand years younger than that which was taught
by Christ and his apostles; that he exploded the
notion of consubstantiality, in the sense in which it
is now generally taken, when applied to the Father
and Son, that he was very much afraid to have his
mind perplexed with the divine relations, or with
the manner of generation and procession in the
Deity, or with modes of subsistence and personali
ties, or with mutual consciousness, and the like ;
and therefore was for discarding at once all such
terms and phrases as are not expressly legitimated
by the sacred writers ; that he fully believed the
Godhead of the Father to be more excellent than
that of the Son, or of the Holy Ghost, even so far as
to look upon this superiority as a thing unquestion
able, and to appeal to the consentient testimony of
the primitive church for evidence ; and lastly, that
he took care to recommend Petavius, and the authorf
of Irenicum Irenicorum, a learned physician at
Dantzick, whom I shall have an occasion several
times hereafter to mention, to the perusal of his
readers, for the sake of that collection of testimonies
which is to be found in them, as wherein they might
c [In i 566.] f [Daniel Zuicker.]
250 THE LIFE OF
1685. easily find an account of the primitive faith, con-
~~ cerning these great articles.
The differ- The design of Curcellseus was evidently different
o" Peta^ius from that of Petavius : the one was to reconcile the
f*uSCurCeI differences about the mysteries of our religion, among
the several sorts of Christians ; the other was not to
reconcile them, but to put an end to the controversy
a shorter way, by endeavouring to shew the neces
sity of an absolute submission to authority, for the
determining articles of faith : the one was to make
the Scriptures the sole rule and standard for eccle
siastical communion in this great point ; the other
was to make the present church of Rome the sole
arbiter and judge in this cause, and her decrees de
cisive, how little soever agreeing with the language
of antiquity, and of the sacred writers themselves.
But Mr. Bull was not satisfied at all with the design
either of the one or of the other ; forasmuch as he
apprehended from them both the like dangerous con
sequences, and the same use to be made by the ene
mies of the catholic faith. He thought Episcopius
and Curcellseus attributed too little, and Petavius,
and others of his church, too much, to the power
and authority of ecclesiastical synods, for the de
claring of articles of faith.
A mistake LIII. And it is hence plain, that the late bishop
of Bossuet,
bishop of of Meaux, with whom I had the honour to be ac-
concerning quainted, and who is known to have had a particu
lar esteem for our author, is mistaken, in supposing
him to hold the infallibility of this council of Nice ;
for had the bishop but proved this once, all that
Mr. Bull had written in defence of the faith there
established would have been altogether superfluous.
DR. GEORGE BULL.
He had, it is true, a very great regard for councils
truly general, and in particular for the Nicene and NO argu-
the Constantinopolitan, not seeing any sufficient rea-
son to object against their testimony : whence, allow-
ing them to be competent witnesses of the faith and £oanc!{*!
practice of the church at that time, as in the several manner of
his vindi-
parts of it acknowledged and received, he concluded, eating that
that the solemn attestation of above three hundred
witnesses at once, must needs be more authoritative,
than the single asseveration of here and there one
occasionally, and perhaps not accurately expressing
himself. For having in his Procemium taken notice,
that the matter treated of in this first general coun
cil was the capital article of the whole Christian re
ligion ; namely, the divinity of our Saviour's person,
as whether he were truly God, or only a creature ;
lie addeth, " If in a question of so vast importance as
" this, we can imagine that all the governors of the
" church could fall into error so prodigiously, and
44 deceive the people under them, how shall we be
" able to vindicate the veracity of our blessed Lord,
" promising to be with his apostles, and in them
" with their successors to the end of the world ? A
" promise which could not be true, seeing the apo-
" sties were not to live so long, unless their succes-
" sors be here comprehended in the persons of the
" apostles themselves." Which he afterwards con-
firmeth, by a passage out of Socrates # concerning
some of the devout Fathers of this council, which
saith, that even the unlearned [i&tGrrcu] of the coun
cil were illuminated by God, and the grace of the
Holy Ghost, so as they could not depart from the
& Lib. i. cap. y.
252 THE LIFE OF
1685. truth. Whereupon the late bishop of Meaux h re-
~ citing this and the former passage, doth triumph
over his adversary not a little, whom he sendeth to
be instructed by our author, in the infallibility of the
council of Nice, in order to bring in that of Trent.
For the bishop concluding it to be our author's opin
ion, that it was impossible for the Fathers of that
council to fall into error, because they were enlight
ened with the light of God's Spirit, without attend
ing as he ought to what went before, and to what
followeth afterwards, which might have undeceived
him, he inferreth, " Hence he [Mr Bull] shews at
" once the infallibility of general councils, both by
" Scripture and by the tradition of the ancient
" church : God bless (continueth he) the learned
" Bull, and reward him for this sincere confession,
" as also for the zeal which he hath made appear in
" defending the Godhead of Jesus Christ : may he
" be delivered from those prejudices which hinder
" him from opening his eyes to the lights of the ca-
" tholic church, and to the necessary consequences
" of the truth by him confessed.'' Thus far the
bishop.
A plain ac- Now the plain truth of the matter is no more than
count of the
truth of this this ; the aforementioned author of the Irenicum
had the confidence to call the Nicene
taLng^his Fathers, Nova fidei conditores, and by such other
vindication, names ; and by a great number of passages collected
out of the more ancient Fathers, had undertaken to
make good his charge; Curcelleeus, writing his Qua-
tcrnio immediately after him, had therein declared
h Histoire des Variations dcs Eglises Protestantes, liv. 15. §. 10,3.
torn. ii. p. .593,594.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 253
that these testimonies did seem to him unanswer- 1685.
able, as to the preeminence at least of the Father ~
above the Son ; Sandius had gone yet much farther,
labouring to heap up all the scandal that was possi
ble against this council ; and many others of inferior
name, borrowing their weapons from these authors,
had been pelting at it as hard as they could : all
which our Mr. Bull knew not how to digest, he saith,
but as often as he considered the incredibility that
such a number of the pastors of this church, met to
gether from all the parts of the world, where Christ
ianity was planted, could in a matter of the great
est moment, even in the very foundation itself of
Christian faith and worship, be either deceived or
deceivers ; or that Christ should not so far remember
his promise, as by his Spirit to abide with the apo
stles and their successors to the end of the world, so
as to guard them at least from laying another foun
dation than what he himself had laid ; but reflecting
hereupon, could not forbear expressing a sort of hor
ror and indignation, for their stupendous ignorance,
or rather impious madness, who were not afraid
furiously to rail at those venerable Fathers in pub
lic, as if they had either maliciously or ignorantly
corrupted the catholic doctrine concerning Christ,
which was tauqht by the apostles, and constantly
professed in the church for three centuries, and had
imposed a new faith upon the Christian world.
This was so very shocking to all pious ears, in the
opinion of Mr. Bull, that he could not bear the
thoughts of it with any patience ; and thence he fall-
eth sometimes into expressions, that to some will
seem to have more of fire in them than they ought
to have, when he is speaking of these men, whom he
254 THE LIFE OF
1685. cousidereth as the professed adversaries to the dig-
~ nity and prerogative of our Saviour, and who are
treated accordingly by him every where as such.
And whereas Sabinus the Macedonian had anciently
attacked the credit of this council, by disparaging
the Fathers that sate in it, for a company of rude
and illiterate persons, who understood not what they
came thither about ; (though by the account which
Eusebius hath given, we may be certain there were
not wanting in it men of sense and capacity ;) Mr.
Bull thought it not amiss to answer Sabinus and his
followers in the very words which the historian
Socrates had done before ; thereby implying, that
notwithstanding they might be simple and plain
persons, without much learning, yet they were
never the worse witnesses for that, and especially
since it was piously credible, that God would also
readily assist their honest endeavours after the truth,
and preserve them by his grace from falling into
any pernicious mistake, wherein the whole church
would necessarily be involved.
Full satis- Neither did Mr. Bull say, that he was of the opin-
givenherein ion of Socrates, but only did declare what he took to
be his meaning, which yet doth not come up at all to
t|iat of the kish0p Of Meaux : and having told this,
Mr. Bull then concludeth ; " but if any be not will-
" ing to admit this hypothesis, [of the illuminating
" grace of the Holy Spirit, assisting a council of
" bishops that is truly univer.sal in the necessary
" articles of faith,] the argument of Socrates may be
" put into this form following ; suppose the Nicene
" Fathers to have been never so ignorant and un-
'•' learned, yet the greatest part of them were pious
" men : and it is unreasonable to believe, that so
DR. GEORGE BULL. 255
" many holy and approved men, being met together 1685.
" out of all parts of the Christian world, could
" wickedly conspire together to innovate the publicly
" received faith, in the very principal article of
" Christianity ; it being not possible to suppose, that
" the simplest there could be so very ignorant, as not
" to understand the very first rudiments concerning
" the holy Trinity, which were wont to be delivered
" to the very catechumens, or not to know what
" they themselves had received concerning it from
" their predecessors." Since how defective soever
they might be in any other part of knowledge, he
concluded it impossible for them to be uninstructed
in the first and most fundamental doctrine of their
religion. This was then, and continued afterwards,
to be the true sense of our author concerning general
councils, and in particular concerning this of Nice :
let the advocates of the church of Rome make the
best of it they can. And if this be not thought a
sufficient vindication, taken from the very book itself
by the bishop appealed to, let the reader farther con
sider, that it is the whole scope of his most learned
defence of the first general council, to shew, that
the Fathers thereof did not err in the determination
of the article by them examined ; both because this
their determination was supported by the more an
cient testimonies of their predecessors, and because
it was morally impossible for them, under their cir
cumstances, to have erred therein ; and much less
for them to have conspired amongst themselves, to
change and new model the faith, which had been
universally received in all the churches. All which
would have been perfectly needless, had he designed
to prove the infallibility of this council ; for this
THE LIFE OF
1685. once proved, all the rest must have been a super-
~ fluous labour, and consequently his whole book would
have been to no purpose. Nay, even supposing that
he was fully of the opinion, that there is an infallible
assistance of the Holy Spirit, which attendeth every
council that is truly general, so*as to keep them from
erring in matters of faith, yet could he not, for this,
be ever the nearer to the church of Rome, or to the
communion of the Gallican bishop, as that church is
at present limited by the council of Trent ; since in
the very same premonition he afterwards saith ex
pressly, ' That the Trent convention is to be called
by any other name, rather than by that of a general
council ; and greatly complaineth of such Romish
writers and advocates for the decrees thereof, as make
no conscience of building up thereby there pseudo-
catholic faith, upon the ruins of the truly catholic
faith. Nothing in the w7orld can be more express
than this, especially all things being laid together.
But if to any one this be not yet satisfactory, let
him but for his farther information carefully read
over his whole introduction, and our author's answer
to the bishop of Meaux's queries, printed in the first
volume of Dean Hickes's Controversial Letters.
The same LIV. Now it is no wonder that a bishop of the
church of Rome, writing a History of the Variations
°f the Protestant Churches, should be very glad to
take all advantages against a learned protestant,
writing a defence of the faith which was synodically
declared by a general council : but it may well de-
1 Tridentina conventio quidvis potius quam Generale Concilium
dicenda est. Procem. §. 8.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 257
serve to be wondered at, that there should be any 1685.
who pretend to receive the faith, and yet at the same
time stick not to vilify the council wherein it was
established, or rather more properly declared. Some
such however among protestants there are. It is
plain Episcopius w?as far from being a Socinian, as
our author truly observeth, having expressly written
against, and solidly overthrown, the fundamental
article of Socinianism ; and endeavoured from the
testimony of Scripture to shew his orthodoxy in the
doctrine of the blessed Trinity ; but the defender of
the Nicene faith is. it seems, more than a little dis
pleased at him, for his coarse and most unhandsome
treatment k of the Nicene Fathers : and the theolo
gical institutions of this learned remonstrant, being
about that time generally in the hands of our
students of divinity in both universities, as the best
system of divinity that had appeared, Mr. Bull had
reason to fear, that many by reading a book so well
approved of might suck in thence a very mean opinion
of those venerable Fathers; and not only of them,
but of most or all of the primitive writers and wit
nesses, both preceding and succeeding them; and
thought it incumbent upon him to wipe off the ca
lumny which he saw cast upon them, at the same
time that he defended the common faith, as by them
delivered and explained.
This was the more necessary, because the remon- An advan-
„ tage taken
strant writers, among whom there were men or ex- by Socmi-
cellent learning and parts, had now acquired a consi- H
derable reputation in our universities, by the means fj
learned re
monstrants.
k Episcop. Instit. Theolog. lib. iv. cap. 34. Bull. Procem. Defen.
Fid. Nic. §. 5.
S
258 THE LIFE OF
1685. of some great men among us : and therefore since
~ Grotius, Episcopius, Curcellaeus, and others of them,
while they were willing to appear as orthodox as any
in the article of our Saviour's deity, did yet let fall
several things, which the adversaries thereof greedily
catched up as making for them, Mr. Bull was much
in the right to prepare an antidote against the lurk
ing poison, which might secretly instil itself into the
minds of unwary readers. This he hath done in
his excellent Defence of the Faith of this council ;
and yet more in his Judgment of the Catholic
Church, &c. as hereafter will be shewn. Of the
first of these, which was written designedly and
directly against Petavius the Jesuit, D. Zuicker a
Socinian, and Sandius, or Sanden, an Arian, there
are so many things to be said, should one set about
the giving an exact state of the controversy, with
respect to the different interests and views of these
three learned men, as they are considered by this
our very learned defender of the Nicene faith, that
it is thought better to cut the matter short between
them ; leaving the critical examination of the whole
to them that will take the pains to scrutinize the
Jesuit by the Fathers, the Socinian by the Jesuit,
the Arian by the Socinian, and all three by their
answerer, and the original authorities.
The chief LV. Now the four principal pillars of the catholic
pillars of , . _
the catholic doctrine concerning CHRIST, maintained and de-
cerni^" fended in this book, are his pre&ristence, his divine
substantiality, his eternity, and his subordination as
Son. For against the Socinians he proveth, that
the Son of God did preexist before he was born of
the Virgin, and even before the world also was, by
DR. GEORGE BULL. 259
many great authorities. And against the Arians, 1685.
he sheweth how this Son of God is not of any ere- ~
ated and changeable essence, but of the very same
nature with God his Father: and so is rightly
called, very God of very God, and of one substance
with the Father. Also against the same he demon-
strateth, how this consubstantial Son of God must
have had a coeternal existence with the Father.
And lastly, against the Tritheists and Sabellians, he
argueth the necessity of believing the Father to be
the fountain, original, and principle of the Son, and
that the Son is hence subordinate to the Father.
Which four articles being established in this trea-And con-
tise, the heads of the catholic doctrine concerning ^^Ghost.
the HOLY GHOST do thence easily also unfold
themselves ; and are these, according as he hath
explained them here, though but incidentally. I.
1 The Holy Ghost is not a mere energy of the Father,
but a distinct divine Person. II. This divine Per
son is of the same nature and essence with the
Father and the Son. III. He not only preexisted
before the world, but is eternal as the Father is
eternal. Yet, IV. He is not self-originated, but
proceedeth from the Father eternally as his original,
and is sent by the Son. These, are the four capital
points, concerning the faith in the Holy Ghost, as
defended by our author, which suppose the proof
of the foregoing articles concerning the Son ; about
which therefore it was necessary he should be very
large.
Now that we may the better comprehend his An account
whole design in this elaborate work, it will not be thesis, con*
1 Sect. i. cap. 2. n. 5. sect. ii. cap. 3. n. 13. n. 16. cap. 4. n. 8.
cap. 5. n. 9. usque ad finem.
S 2
060 THE LIFE OF
1685. unuseful to set down the entire plan at once, and to
~ lav ton-ether the several theses which he hath under-
cernmg-tne 3 o
pree.ristence taken herein to defend, against both Arians and
of Christ. . ci i 1 1 •
Socinians on one hand, as also against babel lians
and Tritheists on the other™. His first thesis is this:
The person called Jesus Christ, before ever he had
that name, or was born of the blessed Virgin
Mary, had a real existence in a far more excellent
nature than the human, and therein did appear to
the holy men of old, as a foretoken of his future
incarnation, and did preside over, and had care of
the church, which was to be redeemed with his
blood, so that from the beginning of the world, the
whole order of the divine economy was through
him all along transacted : yea, that even before
the very foundation of the world lie was actually
present with God his Father, and that through
him all this universe was created. This he saith
is the unanimous doctrine of all the Fathers of the
three first centuries, nor is the truth of it denied by
the Arians. But against the Socinians he proveth,
first, that all the divine apparitions in the Old Tes
tament are by these ancient writers generally ex
plained concerning the Son of God. For proof of
which he appeal eth to Justin Martyr, Irenaeus,
Theophilus Antiochenus, Clemens Alexandrinus,
m [The design of Bull's work is well and concisely stated by
Waterland, vol. ii. p. 285. " The plain question between bishop
" Bull and the Arians is only this : Whether the Ante-Nicene
" Fathers, in general, believed the Son to be of an eternal, un-
" created, immutable, and strictly divine substance, or no ? Bishop
" Bull maintained the affirmative, and has unanswerably proved
" it, in the opinion of most men of true learning and judgment,
" whether here or abroad."]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 261
Tertullian, Origen, Cyprian, and the very ancient 1685.
author of the book de Trinitate*. And, that this
continued to be the doctrine of the catholic church
after the council of Nice, he sheweth from Atha-
nasius, Hilary, Philastrius, Chrysostom, Ambrose,
Augustin, Leo the Great, and Theodoret. After
which, he proveth also the actual existence of the
divine Logos before the world was made, and the
creation thereof by him, from the testimony of the
apostolical Fathers and others. And lastly, he
proveth ° against the Arians, that they herein be
tray their own cause, by granting the Father to
have made all things by his Son out of nothing ;
since nothing is more absurd than to suppose that
a creature, which is itself made out of nothing, such
as by them the Son is conceived to be, can have
such a power communicated to it, as is not less than
infinite, even to the producing other creatures in-
strumentally out of nothing; and since nothing also
tendeth more to revive the primitive heresy, or
rather blasphemy, of the very worst sort of Gnostics,
who fancied the world to have been created, at least
instrumentalist by certain angels, and inferior de
miurgic powers : but more especially, forasmuch as
the primitive catholic writers, even before the stirs
about Arius, have from the work of creation common
to the Son with the Father inferred the common
divine nature of them both, and especially averred,
that God created the world by nothing that was
without hi?n, but by his Word only, which was with
him and in him.
LVI. His second thesis is this, that it in the
» [Ascribed to Novatian.] ° Epilog. Oper. Univ.
262 THE LIFE OF
168. constant and unanimous opinion of the catholic
, for the three first centuries, that the Son
H R
of his thesis Of QO(I fa consubstantial to God the Father; not
concerning ~
the consub- Of any created or mutable essence, out oj the very
of the " selfsame divine and incommunicable nature with his
STSod Father, and so he is true God of true God. This
* **~ article of the consubstantiality of the Father and the
Son, being that upon which the whole controversy
of the catholics with the Arians doth turn, our
author thought it worth his while to treat the same
more largely and distinctly than the former, which
is granted by the Arians to the catholics. After
therefore the P explication of his thesis, and vindica
tion of the term made use of by the Nicene Fathers,
he beginneth with the ecclesiastical writers of the
apostolical ^ age, and sheweth the sense of St. Bar
nabas, St. Herrnas, and St. Ignatius in this matter.
and ''vindicateth St. Clement of Rome, and St. Poly-
carp, from the misrepresentations of Zwickerus and
Sandius. Then he proceedeth lower to 9 Justin Martyr,
out of whom he bringeth abundance of testimonies,
too hard for the Arians as well as Socinians ever to
get over. After whom he calleth in for witnesses
Athenagoras, Tatian, and Theophilus of Antioch.
His next evidence for the Son's being of the same
divine nature and essence with God the Father
is * St. Irenseus, who is a very clear one. "Clemens
Alexandrinus, who followeth him, may not seem
perhaps so clear altogether ; nevertheless, he is vin
dicated against the exceptions of Huetius, Petavius,
and Sandius. And some testimonies are brought
out of his works, for the consubstantiality of the
P Sect. ii. cap. i . q tap. 2. r Cap. 3. s Cap. 4.
' Cap. 5. « Cap. 6.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 263
whole Trinity, which are plain enough. After these 1685.
witnesses for the truth of his thesis, he exaraineth
x Tertullian, and after him -v Caius and Hippolytus,
concerning what tradition they had received as to
this article : and then is very full in his vindication
of z Origen from an imputation commonly cast upon
him ; proving out of his undoubted and most accu
rate and uncorrupted work against Celsus, that his
doctrine, concerning the true and proper divinity of
the Son of God, was most catholic, and altogether
according to the Nicene faith. That the holy
martyr a Cyprian, that Novatian, or the author of
the book de Trinitate, among Tertullian' s works,
that Theognostus the Alexandrian, that b Dionysius
of Rome, and the other of Alexandria, were of
the same sentiment with the Nicene Fathers, as to
this point, he hath likewise endeavoured at large .
to shew. Which he hath farther confirmed, by
the profession of Gregory, called ° Thaumaturgus,
and by arguments drawn from the d synodical
epistles of six bishops to Paulus Samosatensis,
notwithstanding what is objected by Petavius and
Sandius ; and from the relations concerning St.
Pierius of Alexandria, and St. Pamphilus of Csesa-
rea, with St. Lucianus of Antioch, and St. Metho
dius of Tyrus ; and from observations upon some
passages of eArnobius and Lactantius. And thus
the doctrine of the Son's consubstantiality, being
established by the consentient suffrages of the Ante-
Nicene Fathers, taken either from their works
or fragments that are preserved, his coeternity
Cap. 7. y Cap. 8. ''• Cap. 9. a Cap. 10.
Cap. n. c Cap. 12. fl Cap. 13. e Cap. 14.
264 THE LIFE OF
1685. with God the Father is by necessary consequence
inferred, which is the subject of the following
section.
And con- Now whereas the ancient church-writers did dif-
Toetermiy* ferently express themselves on this point, while yet
with him. ke wjjj nave j^ that there was no difference in their
meaning, he hath proved, I. That the better and
greater part of the Christian doctors, who lived
before the council of Nice, did openly, clearly, and
perspicuously, without any windings, teach and
profess the TO trvvaiSiov of the Son, that is, his
coeternal existence with God the Father. II. That
some catholic writers, more ancient than the Nicene
council, seem to attribute a certain nativity to the
Son of God, as God, which sometime began, and
just preceded the creation of the world : but that
these notwithstanding were very wide from the opin
ion of Arius. " For if," saith he, " their sayings
" are accurately weighed, it will appear that they
" spake of a nativity not real and properly so called,
" whereby the Son received a beginning of his sub-
" stance [vTrrfcrrao-t?] and subsistence ; but of a figu-
" rative and metaphorical one : that is, their meaning
" was only this, that the Logos, or divine Word,
" which from before all ages (or rather from all
" eternity) did, as being nothing but God, exist in
" and with God the Father, as the coeternal off-
" spring of his eternal mind, then, when he was
" about to create the world, came forth unto ope-
" ration, [KUT evepyeiav,~] or effectually, and so pro-
" ceeded to the constitution (and formation) of all
" things therein, for the manifesting himself and his
" Father to the creatures : and that by reason of this
" progression OjooeXewris] he is in Scripture called,
DR. GEORGE BULL. 265
" the Son of God, and his first-begotten? III. That 1685.
.some of the catholic doctors, who lived after the
Arian controversy was sprung up, and strenuously
opposed themselves to the heresy of the Ariomanites,
nevertheless refused not to express themselves ac
cording to the sentiment, or rather according to
the manner of explaining their sentiment, held by
those primitive Fathers just before mentioned. For
these also, as he evidently sheweth, have acknow
ledged that progression out of the Father of the
Logos, that existed always with the Father, to
create all this universe ; which some of them have
called by the name ZuTvcara/rWi?, that is, his conde
scension : and have confessed, that even with re
spect to this progression, the Word was born as it
were of God the Father, and is called in Scripture
the first-begotten of every creature. IV. That
Tertullian indeed had the boldness to write in
express terms, fuisse tempus, quando Filius Dei non
esset, that there was a time when the Son of God
was not. But then, first it is plain that this writer,
though otherwise of a great genius, and no less
learning, fell away from the catholic church into
heresy : and it is very uncertain which books he
writ when he was a catholic, which when he was
inclining towards heresy, and which, lastly, when he
was a downright heretic. Then again Tertullian
seems to have brought forth that saying only pro
blematically, or by way of disputation, [ayawo-Tt/cco?,]
and in the conflict with his adversary, as it were
playing about the word Son : so as though he may
seem absolutely to deny the Son's eternity, yet all
the while he doth mean no more at the bottom,
than those other Fathers that have been before
THE LIFE OF
1685. mentioned f; namely, that that divine Person, who
is called the Son of God, notwithstanding that he
never but existed with the Father, was yet then
first declared to be the Son, when he proceeded
forth from the Father, in order to make or consti
tute the universe. Certain it is, that the same Ter-
tullian elsewhere, in many places, philosophizeth
altogether as a good catholic concerning the Son's
coeternity, the supereminency of the subject con
sidered. And as for Lactantius, who somewhere
not obscurely ascribeth a beginning of existence to
the Son of God, his esteem and authority in the
church of God is but very small, forasmuch as he
was uninstructed in the Scriptures, and was furnished
with but a small share of Christian knowledge. But
moreover, we must necessarily conclude, that either
those places in the writings of Lactantius, which
seem to make against the Son's eternity, were cor
rupted by some Manichean heretic, or else that
Lactantius himself was certainly infected with the
heresy of Manes. And after all it must be owned,
that even he too hath yet somewhere delivered a
sounder opinion concerning the eternity of the
Logos. All which particulars our author hath
distinctly considered in the last chapter of this third
section. The first of these articles he hath illus
trated and confirmed by a very noble passage out
of St. Ignatius ; as also by several plain and express
testimonies of Justin Martyr, Irenaeus, Clemens
Alexandrinus, and Origen ; and likewise by many
other concurring suffrages of the Fathers, Greek
and Latin, of the third century, or thereabouts.
The second article he clears up by a most accurate
f Sect. ii. cap. 5, 6, 7, 8.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 267
explication of the opinion of Athenagoras, concern- l685-
ing the Son's eternity and progression ; as also of
Tatian and Theophilus Antiochenus, whom he
proveth as to the main to have been sound and
catholic in this point. The same he hath made out
also concerning St. Hippolytus the martyr : and
hath fully represented the sentiment hereupon of
the ancient anonymous author, concerning the Tri
nity ', ascribed to Novatian and Tertullian. The
third article he hath established and illustrated
pretty largely, by testimonies from the catholic Fa
thers, who flourished after the rise of the Arian
controversy ; as particularly from the great Eusebius
of Caesarea, from Socrates, from Athanasius himself,
from an epistle of some Arian presbyters and dea
cons, extant both in him and in Hilary, from Zeno,
bishop of Verona, besides the epistle of Constantino
the Great to the Nicomedians, against Eusebius
and Theognis, and other considerable materials out
of the forecited Athanasius. The fourth article
being no less solidly and perspicuously proved by
him, he concludeth with an epilogue grounded upon
a saying of Sisinnius, reported by & Socrates, That
the ancients did studiously take heed not to attri
bute any beginning of existence to the Son of God,
because they conceived him to be COETERNAL with
the Father. For it appears by him, of the six Ante-
Nicene writers (Lactantius not being reckoned) that
speak in the most suspicious manner, no less than
Jive of them, namely, Athenagoras, Tatian, Theo
philus, Hippolytus, and the author of the ancient
book de Trinitate, have openly professed, that the
divine Logos was with God the Father from ever-
£ Hist. Eccles. lib. v. cap. 10.
268 THE LIFE OF
1685. lasting. And even Tertullian himself, who is the
sixth, after a great deal of round-about work, is
found to sit down at last in the common opinion, as
he calls it, that is, in the catholic or orthodox no
tion, and there to acquiesce : according as he hath
expressly asserted against the Valentinians, who
were the forerunners of Arius. No doubt but that
there were also many other monuments of antiquity,
which were seen and read by Sisinnius, who was
known to be a person of great learning11 in the
ecclesiastical writers, as particularly of Quadratus,
Aristides, Miltiades, Melito, &c., which now are
lost ; but might have served not a little to the
farther clearing up of this thesis, had their works
come down to us. From this determination of the
eternal existence of the Logos, or Word, in and
with the Father, he proceedeth in the last place to
consider his subordination and dependence upon
the Father, whose Word he is.
standing
LVII. Now concerning the subordination of the
. . ,
his suitor- Son, as to his original from the Father, Mr. Bull
the Father, hath laid down and proved these three following
theses; viz. 1. '"That decree of the Nicene council,
" by which it is declared that the Son of God is
" God of God, [Oeo? e«r Oeoy,] is generally approved
" of by the catholic doctors, both by them that lived
" before, and them that lived after that council :
" for they all with one consent have taught, that
" the divine nature and perfections do agree to the
" Father and Son, not collaterally or co-ordinately,
" but subordinately : that is, that the Son hath
" indeed the same divine nature in common with
h Sozom. Hist. Ecclesiast. lib. vii. cap. 12.
* Sect. iv. cap. i.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 269
" the Father, but hath it communicated from the 1685.
" Father, so as the Father alone hath that divine
" nature from himself, or from no other besides, but
" the Son from the Father ; and consequently, that
" the Father is the fountain, original, and principle
" of the divinity, which is in the Son. 2. k The
" catholic writers, both they that were before, and
" they that were after the council of Nice, have
" unanimously declared God the Father to be greater
" than the Son ; even according to his divinity : yet
" this not by nature indeed, or by any essential per-
" fection which is in the Father, and is wanting in
" the Son ; but only by fatherhood, or his being the
" author and original ; forasmuch as the Son is from
" the Father, not the Father from the Son. 3. The
" doctrine of the subordination of the Son to the
" Father, as to his origination and principiation,
" the ancients thought to be most useful, and even
" altogether necessary to be known and believed, that
" by this means the Godhead of the Son might be
" so asserted, as that the unity of God, nevertheless,
" and the divine monarchy might still be preserved
" inviolate. Forasmuch as notwithstanding the name
" and nature are common to two, that is, to the Fa-
" ther and to the Son, yet because one is the princi-
" pie of the other, from whom he is propagated, and
" that by internal not external production ; it thence
" followeth, that God may rightly be said to be but
" one God. And the same ancients believed more-
" over, that the very same reason did hold likewise
" as to the Godhead of the Holy Ghost." This is
the sum of his doctrine, concerning the divine mon-
k Cap. 2.
270 THE LIFE OF
1685. archy and subordination in the blessed Trinity, so
~as not to lessen either the consubstantiality or co-
eternity of the Son and Spirit with the Father. For
though he maintained that there are in the Deity
three really distinct hypostases or persons, he no less
strenuously insisteth, that there is and can be but
one God ; first, because there is but one fountain or
principle of the Godhead, viz. The FATHER, who
The doc- only is [AiVo'foo?] God of and from himself, the
council of SON and HOLY GHOST deriving from him their
catedb'y ' divinity : and then because the SON and HOLY
Mr'.B"1l GHOST are so derived from the fountain of the divi-
St^filllSt inG
modern ^«- nitv, as not to be separate or separable from it, but
totheans. J
always to exist therein most intimately united.
Under each of these three last theses there are
some considerable observations made by our author,
from the catholic doctors of the church, both before
and after the rise of Arianism ; without a thorough
understanding of which, it will be impossible ever to
settle this matter to satisfaction. In treating the
first of them, he hath learnedly and solidly confuted
the unreasonable and uncatholic notion of the mo
derns, which maketh the Son a self-dependent prin
ciple of divinity, (and by consequence another God,)
by asserting and defending, that he might properly
be called AirroOeo?, as well as the Father is, and that
he is truly God of himself, and not God of God, as
the Nicene Fathers confess him. This opinion was
first of all started by ! Calvin, against the judgment
of the catholic church to this very day, and even of
the first reformers, Luther and Melancthon, as Peta-
vius and our author have sufficiently shewn. It was
1 Inst. Theol. lib. i. cap. 13. §. 19.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 271
afterwards dressed up and vindicated by m Danseus, 1685.
and after him by several others of the Calvinistical
school ; whose main argument was this, that Christ
must have been God of himself, or else he could not
be God at all ; because the notion of God supposeth
self -existence. This opinion was very much opposed
about the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of
the seventeenth century by Arminius, in an episto
lary dissertation on this subject to one Vytenbogard,
in his declaration made before the States of Hol
land, in his Apology against the one and thirty
Articles, and lastly, in a letter to the prince Pala
tine's envoyee to the States General. But the pre
judices which many entertained against him were
so violent, as none of his arguments could get to be
heard by them, who were so bigotted to their master,
and to his private opinions, as not to be able to bear
any thing which might grate but never so little upon
the esteem they had for him, and for theses, which
were looked upon by them as so many evangelical
discoveries. This seems to be the true state of the
matter; whence this controversy was still kept up
by some of the more zealous anti remonstrants, not
withstanding the great weight of evidence brought
for the old catholic doctrine against them in this
article.
Some went so far as even to ridicule the Nicene
creed upon this account, and to call the Fathers who
composed it a parcel of ™ fanatics, for styling therein
Christ, God of God, Light of Light, &c. And some
ran also hence into ° Sabellian explications of this
m Isagog. Chris, lib. i. cap. 23.
n Vid. Defen. Fid. Nic. sect. iv. cap. i. §. 8.
0 Ib. §. 7, 9. et Epist. i Armin. ad J. Vytenbog.
272 THE LIFE OF
1681;. mystery, even to the taking away of all distinction
~ of hypostases in the Godhead, as by our author hath
been well observed : Bellarmin and Petavius have
been too severe however upon Calvin for this mis
take ; but P Possevin still more so, by whom it is
named the Heresy of the Autotheans ; and the
founder of it, the new Tritheist. But there is none,
after all, to be compared with a certain 1 Austrian
Jesuit, the author of a book called Symbola tria, who
hath been at the pains to collect several passages out
of Calvin s Institutions, and his Explication of the
perfidiousness of Valentinus Gentilis, that he might
compare them with some passages of the Alcoran,
asserting God to be a Being of himself necessarily
existing, to whom it is impossible to receive or bor
row his essence from another ; and thence most
uncharitably concludeth, that Mahomet and Calvin
must both have had the same wicked design. Epi-
scopius and Curcellseus have been much more modest
and candid in animadverting on this novel opinion,
and establishing the communicability of the divine
nature and essence from the Father to the Son, ac
cording to the faith of the catholic church.
His candid And even the zeal of Mr. Bull hath not here hin-
CaTvhTon° dered him from treating with esteem the author of
count° so dangerous an opinion, while at the same time he
is confuting it, for the sake of some laudable qualifi
cations which he discerned in him, and was endea
vouring to excuse him as well as the matter could
bear, against the insults of the most learned writer
P Lib. de Sectariorum Atheismiscap. vi. p. 13. edit. Colon. 1586.
q Symbola tria CATHOLICUM, CALVINIANUM, LU-
THERANUM omnia ipsis eorum verbis expressa. Quirinus Cno-
glerus Austrius recensuit et notis illustravit, Colon. 1622.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 273
of his whole order, so famous for learning. This de- 1685.
serveth the more to be taken notice of, because some
of the expressions of that author are so very harsh,
with respect to the present point, and did seem to
border so nearly upon what his enemies have accused
him of, as made Mr. Bull's ears almost to tingle, and
caused him to break out after this manner ; Horre-
sco hcBC refercns, &c., that is, r " While I am telling
" these things, I have an horror upon me ; and
" therefore I most seriously exhort the pious and
" studious youth, that they take heed of that spirit
" from which such effects as these have proceeded.
" We owe much indeed to that great man, for his
" excellent service in purging the Church of Christ
" from popish superstition. But far be it from us
" that we should receive him for our master, or that
" we should swear to his words ; or lastly, that we
" should be afraid freely to remark, as there shall be
" cause for so doing, his manifest errors, and his new
" and singular determinations, against the catholic
" consent of antiquity." In which words our author
hath so fully and clearly expressed his true sense,
and a generous liberty of mind, and given withal
such a prudent caution and advice to all young stu
dents in divinity, as nothing farther need, I suppose,
be added to clear him from an imputation, which
some have injuriously cast upon him, of having in
famously broken the cartel of honour and civility,
by his treatment of them of the opposite side.
LVIII. In his handling the second thesis, Mr. Bull He defends
hath shewn, that he had examined the holy Fathers ™na!ur*
r Sect. iv. cap. i. §.8.
T
274 THE LIFE OF
1685. of the church, both before and after the determina-
not to be tion of the council of Nice, with a more than ordi-
ivithnSchanary application, diligence, and observation, (as his
submdina- very senemjes cannot deny,) and hath proved it to
have been the general belief, that the Father was
greater than the Son as to his original, and the Son
equal to his Father as to his nature, [/cara (frva-iv ;]
and * answered at large the principal objection
against the natural coequality of the Father and the
Son, taken from such passages in the Ante-Nicene
writers, as seem to deny the immensity and invisi
bility of the Son ; which are here reconciled with
other passages in them, which are express for those
attributes being common to him with the Father.
The ad- Under the third and last thesis he hath made ap-
pear the use and advantage of this doctrine, con-
- ceniing the subordination of the Son to the Father,
notwithstanding the equality of their nature ; and
hath many judicious observations, about the dis
tinction and union of the divine hypostases or per
sons ; about the consent of both the contending sides,
in laying a principle of unity in the Father, (whether
that be consubstantial or not consubstantial ;) about
internal and external production ; and about some
other matters for the farther explication both of the
monarchy and the Trinity in the Godhead, from the
principal Fathers both Greek and Latin. There are
various opinions, it is true, concerning his perform
ance of this last part : and different uses have been
made thereof by different parties, which is not
s Judgment of the Fathers [concerning the doctrine of the
Trinity, opposed to Dr. G. Bull's Defence of the Nicene Faith.
London, 1695.] p. 77. t Cap. 3.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 275
much to be wondered at. To come to our present 1685.
times.
LIX. The ingenious and learned Dr. Clarke in The use of
particular hath in his Scripture Doctrine of the madefy"
Trinity", printed this very year, no less than thirty J^8SS
citations out of this very treatise ; and almost all of
them are represented in a very different view from
that which our author certainly had in writing those
passages : as are also the citations out of the Fathers
themselves, which Dr. Clarke here met with, and
hath accommodated to his own purpose, and that
frequently, without so much as the least notice taken
of the explications and answers given to them by
this our author. And here, because some have
thought Dr. Clarke's scheme of the Trinity to be in
some measure agreeable to that which is delivered to
us for the catholic doctrine in this most learned trea
tise, from the testimony of the three first ages of
Christianity, and that it is somewhat supported by
the authority of two such great names amongst us
as PEARSON and BULL ; I shall set it down, as well
as I can in a few words, that the reader may com
pare it with the foregoing theses, and thence judge
for himself.
The learned defender of the Nicene faith, having Whose
vindicated at large, as we have already seen, both com'™uV«i
the consubstantiality of the Son, and his coeternal™
existence with the Father, gave occasion for different
reflections, by his maintaining, that though the Son
be coequal with the Father, as having the same
u The Scripture Doctrine of the Trinity, in three parts, &c. by
Samuel Clarke, D.D. &c. Lond. 1712.
T 2
276 THE LIFE OF
1685. divine nature with the Father, without any change or
~ diminution, yet he is subordinate to the Father, as
receiving the divine nature from him. This is in
short the very sum of his doctrine, which hath been
excepted against by some, and misapplied by others ;
as if such a subordination which he teacheth were
in itself inconsistent with a natural or essential co-
equality of persons. But not to trouble ourselves
here with any others, let us proceed to take a view
at once of the doctrine of the Trinity, which Dr.
Clarke hath advanced for the true Scripture doc
trine of it ; which is this, viz., " There is one first
" and supreme cause, the Author of all being, and
" sole origin of all power and authority, who alone
" is self-existent, underived, unoriginated, indepen-
" dent, made of none, begotten of none, proceeding
" from none ; who is called the Father, and is abso-
" lutely supreme over all, and the one or only God
" in the Scripture language. With whom there hath
" existed from the beginning a second divine person,
" who is called his Word or Son, deriving his being
" or essence, and all his attributes from him, as the
" supreme cause; but whether by the necessity of
" nature, or the power of his will only, the doctor
" will not be positive : no more than he will be,
" whether he existed from all eternity, or only be-
" fore all worlds; and whether he was begotten of
" the same substance and essence with the Father,
" or made out of nothing ; because of the danger of
" presuming to be able to define the particular me-
" taphi/sical manner of the Son's deriving his essence
" from the Father. With whom also a third person
" hath existed, deriving his essence in like manner
" from him, through the Son ; which person hath
DR. GEORGE BULL. 277
" higher titles ascribed to him than to any angel, or 1685.
" other created being whatsoever, but is no where ~
" called God in Scripture, being subordinate to the
" Son, both by nature and by the ivill of the Father."
This is the substance of the doctrine of the Trinity,
as defended by this doctor, and from which he in-
ferreth, " That absolute supreme honour is due to
" the person of the Father singly, as being alone
" the supreme Author of all being and power ; and
" that whatever honour is paid to the Son, who re-
" deemed, or to the Holy Spirit, who sanctifieth us,
" must always be understood, as tending finally to
" the honour and glory of the Father, by whose
" good pleasure the Son redeemed, and the Holy
" Spirit sanctifies us." According to this doctrine,
it appeareth that the Son must not be God, strictly
and properly speaking, much less still the Holy
Spirit, but that God the Father alone is the true and
supreme God; and therefore he asserts expressly,
that the Scripture, when it mentions God absolutely,
and by way of eminence, means the person of the
Father ; as likewise when it mentioneth the one
God, or the only God; though he could not, after
having read the Defence of the Nicene Faith, be
ignorant that this was contrary to the mind of the
catholic Fathers. Neither could he, of what the
learned author of the Considerations on Mr. Whis-
toiis Historical Preface, whom he cites, had said
to this purpose ; though he might not possibly have
observed or remembered, that there is a whole chap
ter in xSt. Irenseus, purposely to shew, that Christ is
in Scripture expressly and absolutely called God, and
x Lib. iii. cap. 6.
278 THE LIFE OF
1685. that he is the one and only God in the unity of the
" Father's substance or essence ; and very God, in op
position to all those that are improperly called God
in the sacred writings. However this might be, cer
tain it is, that Dr. Clarke, who had so ample a collec
tion of testimonies concerning the Trinity before
him in this treatise, as well as in Petavius, hath not
made that use of them, which this indefatigable and
judicious collector did, or which might have been
expected from a person of so great a character in
the church and learned world, as Dr. Clarke.
The doc. For the plain and confessed truth is, that we are
way of dt! not to depend much upon the quotations by him
brought, for knowing the opinion or judgment of any
writer : since this was never so much as designed by
him. Wherefore the reader must not wonder, as
he himself fairly warneth, if many passages not
consistent with (nay perhaps contrary to) those
which are cited by him in this book, shall by any
one be alleged out of the same authors. So we
must not wonder if in above thirty citations, out of
our author, according as this ingenious writer hath
extracted and applied them, we can hardly find one
in ten of them cited with any consistence with, or
subservience to that, which we know for certain to
have been our author's fixed opinion, and well
weighed judgment. For whosoever will be at the
pains to compare the several passages cited by Dr.
Clarke, as they stand in the places whence they are
taken, with other clear and express passages of our
learned author, and with the whole scope and pur
port of his reasonings for the truth of the Nicene
doctrine, must evidently perceive, that these are all
placed in quite another light by the doctor than in
DR. GEORGE HULL. 279
the book referred to ; that some are directly contrary 1685.
to the author's true meaning, and to his design in ~
writing, and most of the rest inconsistent at least
with the same, as the doctor very well knew. And
indeed he minceth not the matter, but frankly and
ingenuously acknowledged!, that he doth not cite
places out of these authors, [meaning them who
have written since the council of Nice,] so much to
shew what was the opinion of the writers them"
selves, as to shew how naturally truth sometimes
prevails by its own native clearness and evidence,
even against the strongest and most settled preju*
dices. Nothing therefore would be more vain, than
to expect to learn from him the opinion of any Christ
ian writer whatsoever, later than the council of
Nice, because quoted by him : and as for the writers
before, and at the time of that council, he thinkeih,
that the greatest part of them were really of that
opinion, which he hath endeavoured to set forth in
his propositions, which make the second part of his
pretended Scripture doctrine. But though this be
his thought, he cannot but own nevertheless, that
they do not always speak very clearly and consist
ently. By which I suppose he meaneth, that they
do not always plainly support his scheme. This
charge however I do not find laid by him against
our author, who hath spoken his mind clearly enough
in the great points before us, and who will appear
never to have contradicted his own assertions or
theses concerning these mysterious truths.
One would indeed be almost tempted to believe, More par-
that he had, from many passages that this learned th
doctor hath picked up out of him with much art, in
order to support his own scheme, been altogether of
280 THE LIFE OF
'685. his mind ; or that at least his mariner of writing
must have been very perplexed, without any con
nexion or consistency with principles, and as hold
ing forth frequently a double meaning. But that
this is no part of his character, the very passages ap
pealed to by the very doctor himself, to exemplify
how naturally truth can prevail, as he will have it,
by its own native evidence,, are more than sufficient
to prove ; for which reason I have drawn up a^ list
y Clarke's Script. Doctrine. Bull's Def. Fidei Niece.
P. I. c. i. §. 3. T. 340. p. 51. Sect. II. c. 9. §. 13.
P. I. c, 2. §.3. T. 616. p. 117. Sect. I. c. i. §. 2.
Ibid. p. 1 18. Sect. IV. c. 3. §. 15.
P.I. c. 2. §. 5.T. 830. P. 161. Sect. II. c.9. §. 12.
P. I. c. 2. §. 5. T. 934. p. 1 77. Sect. II. c. 3. §. 4.
Ibid. c. 4. §. 7.
P. II. §.9. p. 257. Procem. §.4.
P. II. §. 1 1. p. 266. Sect. II. c. 9. §. 8.
P. II. §. ii. p 269. Ibid. §. 12.
P. II. §. ii. p. 270. Sect. IV. c. i. §. 2.
P. II. §. 12. p. 271. Sect. IV. c. i. §.7.
Ibid. Ibid. §. 8.
P. II. §. 17. p. 282. Sect. III. c. 8. §.8.
P. II. §. 23. p. 295. Sect. II. c. 13. §. i.
Ibid- Sect. III. c. 9. §. 8.
P. II. §.34. p. 311. Sect. II. c. 8. §.5.
Ibid- Sect. IV. c. i. §.7.
Ibid- Sect. IV. c. 2. §.3.
P. II. §. 34. p. 3 1 2. Sect. IV. c. 3. §. 4.
P. II. §. 36. p. 329. Sect. II. c. 5. §. 6.
Ibid- Sect. II. c. 9. §. 10.
Ibid. p. 330. Sect. IV. c. 3. §.4.
'• H. §. 39. p. 346. Sect. II. c. 8. §. 5.
Ibid- Sect. III. c. 5. §.4.
Ibid. p. 347. Sect. IV. c. 4. §.2.
Ibid. p. 348. Sect. IV. c. 4. §.7.
P. II. §. 44. p. 357. Sect n c 9> §
DR. GEORGE BULL. 281
of them, that equal and impartial examiners may be 1685.
fully informed in the matter, as it shall be thought
worth their while ; and so be enabled to pass a right
judgment, according as the evidence shall clearly
cast the balance for the one or for the other of these
writers. The very first passage of all is a remark of
our author's upon the words of Origen, commenting
on our Lord's answer to the person who called him
good, which the learned Huetius, in his Origeniana,
had charged with heresy. These Mr. Bull hath fully
vindicated against that heavy charge, and shewn how
Huetius mistook this Father, speaking of Christ as
an exemplar in his human nature, and according to
the economy of God, [Ad Christi OIKOVO/U.IO.V in as-
sumpta natura humana susceptam,] as if he had
spoken of him with respect to his divine nature :
and not the least word is said that can justly be
interpreted of the Son's inferiority to the Father in
nature, but rather on the contrary. For he there
sheweth, that Origen did hold and teach the Son
to be very God, uncreated, immortal, immutable, im
passible, infinite, omnipresent, and absolutely blessed
and perfect, no less than the Father, by clear and
undoubted testimonies, taken from his book against
Clarke s Script. Doctrine. Bull's Def. Fidel Niece.
P. II. §.44. p. 358. Sect. II. e.g. §. 15.
Ibid. p. 359. Sect. IV. c. i. §.7.
Ibid. p. 360. Sect. IV. 0.4. §.5.
Ibid. Sect. II. c. 3. §. 6.
Ibid. p. 361. Sect. II. 0.9. §. 15.
P. II. §.45. p. 363. Ibid.
Ibid. p. 364. Sect. II. c. 3. §.6.
Ibid. Sect. II. 0.9. §. 15.
Ibid. Sect. IV. c. 4. §.5.
P. III. c. 2. p. 458. Sect. IV. c. 4. §• 7-
282 THE LIFE OF
1685. Celsus; and answereth all the objections or suspi-
~cions of Huetius, against the soundness of his faith
in that article. The next passage cited by Dr. Clarke
is no more for an inferiority of nature in the Son
than the first is : the plain meaning of it being no
other, than that, according to the constant doctrine
of all catholic Fathers, Christ did actually subsist
before his incarnation, in another and more excellent
nature than that of man ; and that appearing to the
holy men under the Old Testament, he received
from them divine honours, and was manifested to
them by the most high name of God. Mr. Bull
first proveth his preexistence, and his apparitions
in a human form, as a kind of anticipation of his
taking on him our flesh : and this being proved, he
then sheweth how he did eternally exist with the
Father, in the same nature and substance. Now
there is nothing in this whole method, nor in any
particular argument under it, which doth tend in the
least to favour such an inequality of nature in Father
and Son, as is included in that scheme which it is
brought to support. As for the third passage made
use of, it is certainly no better applied than the
former ; the design of that whole chapter whence
it is taken being to answer a principal objection,
which had even shocked Mr. Bull himself for a good
while, that would infer a difference in the divine
nature of the Son from that of the Father, the one
manifestable, the other not manifestable. The fourth
passage seemeth indeed to be very much to his pur
pose, and every one that reads it as it is cited, and will
not be at the pains to consult either what follows it,
or what is there distinctly referred to, may be easily
led to think, that our author was not a defender, but
DR. GEORGE BULL. 283
an imderminer of the Nicene faith, by maintaining 1685.
the Son, even as he is God, to be less than the Father :
which though it be most true in a certain sense
which he hath explained, in conformity to primitive
testimonies, and to the confession of the council
of Nice itself, as he is God of God ; yet is both
most diametrically opposite to his plain meaning,
and to what he defended for the catholic faith with
so much strength, if thereby it be understood, that
there is greater and less in the divine nature and
essence. Which matter being fully and clearly
handled in the second chapter of his fourth section,
I shall say no more to it : but send my learned
reader thither for satisfaction, as Mr. Bull himself
hath done before me, in that very passage which the
doctor hath here cited, but without taking notice of
the reference. Whether it were the doctor's design,
hereby to shew how easy and natural that notion
must be allowed to be, which so learned a defender of
the faith, in a treatise written for the cause of the
council of Nice against the Arians, could not forbear
expressing so clearly and distinctly even frequently,
when at the same time he is about to affirm, and
endeavouring something not very consistent with it,
I shall not much inquire : it is enough to have
shewn what manner of judgment we ought to make
of his citations, for they are generally applied much
after the same manner, and with the same views.
And it were alike easy to shew, how his testimonies
out of the ancient ecclesiastical writers are alleged in
this very manner, teste seipso. But since he bring-
eth them only as illustrations of his propositions,
not as proofs of them ; it is certainly not worth
the while to contend about what he himself layeth
284 THE LIFE OF
1685. so little stress upon. Howsoever, it may deserve
to be taken notice of, that the greatest part of
the testimonies by him produced do appear in quite
another light, as they are cited by the judicious
Mr. Bull, than as they are applied by Dr. Clarke for
illustrating his propositions. Whether Dr. Clarke's
doctrines or Mr. Bull's be best supported by these
testimonies, I leave the learned to judge.
The use of LX. Dr. John Edwards of Cambridge2, on the
yDr? other hand, hath found fault with our author, for a
[mad- reason which made him the better accepted with
verier on j)r darke ; as not being able to receive the doc-
Dr. Clarke.
trine of the subordination of the Son to the Father,
in the sense of the ancient writers, yea even of
Athanasius himself; and therefore condemning, to
gether with him, a pretty number of the ancients
as well as of the moderns, and such of them both,
as generally have been accounted most orthodox in
the doctrine of the Trinity, and some more particu
larly famous, for their being advocates for the con-
substantiality and natural equality of Father and
Son. Now the case plainly standeth thus between
them. There can be no doubt but that Christ
spoke these words, my Father is greater than /, in
whatsoever sense they are to be understood. These
are made use of in the Scripture Doctrine afore
mentioned, to prove the inferiority of the Son, and
z Some Animadversions on Dr. Clarke's Scripture Doctrine
(as he styles it) of the TRINITY: briefly shewing, that his
quotations out of the Fathers are forced : his texts produced from
Scripture are wrested : his arguments and inferences are weak
and illogical : and that his whole performance falls short of his
design. By John Edwards, D.D. London, 1712.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 285
consequently, as Dr. Edwards observeth, to subvert 1685.
his real divinity. Now it is acknowledged by this
learned animadverter, that some, yea a pretty many
of the ancients, understand this place, John xiv. 28.
of Christ's divine nature, and insist upon it, that
he is inferior to the Father, because he is his Son.
He denies not, but that Athanasius himself inter-
preteth the text after that manner; and saith, that
Gregory Nazianzen, Epiphanius, Chrysostom, and
Cyril of Alexandria, do the like. He mentioneth
two only that understand it of Christ's human na
ture : and then referreth to seven of them, that in
terpret this text concerning both natures. But this
is, in his judgment, a depressing the doctrine of
Christ's supreme divinity ; and he will have it to be
all wrong and false, and that till we correct this
notion of the subordination and inferiority of the
Son, as Son, we shall never have right apprehen
sions concerning the glorious Trinity. This is his
opinion ; wherein he opposeth not only Dr. Clarke,
but the most eminent witnesses and defenders of
the Nicene faith, ancient and modern. But this
he doth because he is persuaded, that all of them
have been mistaken by the misapplication of the
common and received notion of paternity and fili
ation, in the translation of these from man to God.
For, saith he, a " Those first writers found, that the
" communication of the divinity from the first per-
" son to the second was expressed in Scripture by
" generation and begetting ; and they were sensible,
" that a father is not subordinate to his son, but the
" son to the father, and that he who is begotten, is
" inferior to him that begets; which they applied
a P. 2O, 21.
286 THE LIFE OF
1685. " to God the Father and his Son." This is readily
~~ acknowledged ; but then withal it ought to be con
sidered, that according to these very writers there
is an inferiority of order or dispensation, and an
inferiority of nature or of substance; which distinc
tion must carefully be attended to, because many of
them, who own the former with respect to the Son
of God, do yet most strenuously oppugn the latter.
This however he concludeth to have been the rise
and ground of the erroneous and dangerous opin
ion of the Son's being inferior to the Father ; with
out taking any notice of that distinction, which
is so common in them. Whereupon he inferreth,
b " That those very learned and worthy prelates,
" bishop Pearson and bishop Bull, with other mo-
" dern divines, have hurt the doctrine of the Trinity
" by listening to those writers, and by urging the
" inferiority of the Son to the Father, in respect of
" his divinity." And further he saith, that " Mr-
" Winston and Dr. Clarke have laid hold on these
" writings, and have made the Son of God a mere
" dependent being, and not worthy to be styled a
" God" But if Mr. Whiston c and Dr. Clarke have
thus laid hold of these writings, they have laid hold
on the Scriptures also. Let the writings of these
two worthy prelates be heard for themselves, and
there will be but little reason found for the boasting
of such as depress the real divinity of the Son of
God : and let the Scriptures, as interpreted by the
catholic rule of antiquity, be heard likewise for them
in this cause. This I hope will not be denied by
any, being a request so reasonable in itself: and if
b P. 2 1. c [See the Historical preface to Primitive Christianity
restored. London, 1711.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 287
granted, I do not much doubt of the success, though
there should be several prejudices here to grapple
with. For nothing surely can ever be more plain
from that whole d chapter of our author, which
treateth distinctly of this very subject, than the
great and manifest difference that there is betwixt
order and substance, with respect to the persons of
the Father and the Son in the blessed Trinity ; for
asmuch as there is a gradation of one but not of the
other, according to the most primitive and catholic
tradition of the faith : and the very same Fathers
who are so plain and express for the former, and
even so far as thence to be challenged by the ad
versaries of the catholic faith, out of a mistaken
apprehension of their true and genuine sense, are
generally express against the latter. This is made
most clear in Justin Martyr; in whom some seem
ing contradictions are hereby very easily to be re
conciled, as our author in that chapter sheweth.
Thus also Irenaeus, who confesseth the Father's
prerogative, and the Son's subordination in the full
est terms, disputeth yet with the Valentinians
against this notion of the inferiority and inequality
of the Logos to the Father; and when he distin-
guisheth betwixt the Logos and the creatures, he
maketh the difference herein chiefly to consist, that
no creature can be equal to its Maker, thereby
manifestly signifying, that the Word, or Son of
God, must needs be altogether equal to God his
Father, as to his nature ; whence also he pronounc-
eth them to be exactly commensurate with each
other, without any manner of diminution whatso-
d Sect. iv. cap. 2.
288 THE LIFE OF
1685. ever, and chargeth them with blindness who do not
~see this truth. Thus also Clement of Alexandria,
thus Tertullian, thus Origen, thus Dionysius of
Alexandria, before the rise of the Arian contro
versy: thus Alexander of Alexandria, and his suc
cessor Athanasiiis, upon the rise of it, as plainly as
words can express : thus afterwards, in the progress
of this controversy, Basil the Great, thus Nazianzen,
thus Chrysostom, thus Cyril of Alexandria, and
John Damascen, among the Greek writers : thus
Marius Victorinus, thus Hilary, thus Augustin, and
others among the Latin Fathers, have all written
to the same purpose, as our author hath at large
proved. Nay, it is more than a little observable,
that even those very ancients, which by Dr. Ed
wards are taxed for having misled into error the
most eminent divines of this last age, do abundantly
herein clear themselves, according to the report
which he himself hath given us of them, at the
very time that he is disputing against the thesis of
the Son's subordination, as it is explained and de
fended in this treatise by our excellent author. For
it must be owned, that he hath brought out of them
several illustrious testimonies, which shew, that not
withstanding they asserted the same subordination
with these two great men of our church, yet they
never asserted it so, as to deny that supremacy,
which belongs to the Son as well as his Father;
but on the contrary taught, that the very notion of
supremacy is necessarily included in that of the
deity, and that God cannot excel God, nor one of
the divine persons be inferior to the other, as to
the divine being and nature; but that there is one
deity and power in them, not unequal as to their
1)H. GEORGE BULL. i>8<)
substances and natures, neither increased by any 1685.
superexcellencies, nor decreased by any diminutions,
but every way equal and the same ; notwithstanding
that diversity of dispensation, and of order, which
the same witnesses bear record of, as delivered to
them from the beginning. So that from the review
of what these several writers have advanced, and of
the great pains they have been at in collecting such
a number of ancient testimonies to support their
several hypotheses, it will evidently appear, that
notwithstanding what the holy Scriptures and the
catholic Fathers have delivered down to us concern
ing the unity and identity of the blessed Trinity as
to its essence, yet they always suppose and assert
the difference of the personalities in the Godhead,
and consequently the difference of order, with the
diversity of operations. And thus the charge of Dr.
Edwards, through the sides of Dr. Clarke, against
this famous defender of the primitive faith, falleth
to the ground.
LXI. But it is not to be wondered at, if from the Of Dr.
first publication of this learned Defence of the Ni~.d^Dr.
cene Faith, and ever since, there have been various ^'''j^;
sentiments concerning it among the learned, accord- schemes
compared
ing as they have been differently affected or in- with this
structed6. For the most learned author of the
Intellectual System, Dr. Cudworth, having profess
edly maintained, that the three persons of the Tri
nity are three distinct spiritual substances, but that
the Father alone is truly and properly God, that he
e [Simon in his Nouvelle Bibliothccjue choisie, c. 14. seems not
well satisfied with the Defence.^
U
THE LIFE OF
1685. alone in the proper sense is supreme, that absolute
"supreme honour is due to him only, and that he,
absolutely speaking, is the only God of the universe ;
the Son and Spirit being God, but only by the Fa
ther's concurrence with them, and their subordina
tion and subjection to him ; this awakened a sus
picion in some, that Mr. Bull was Dr. Cudworth's
second in this cause : and Dr. Sherlock, having
afterwards directly maintained, that there are three
infinite distinct minds and substances in the Trinity,
and that the three persons of Father, Son, and Holy
Ghost, are so many infinite minds or spirits ; which
he endeavoured also to explain, according to the
principles of the Cartesian metaphysics ; a storm
being thereupon raised in the church, and his opin
ion condemned by a great many as false, heretical,
and impious, it could not be avoided, but some drops
fell upon the head of Mr. Bull also, or rather re
bounded from Dr. Sherlock upon him ; none being-
very Milling directly to meddle with one that had
so honourably acquitted himself, his very enemies
being judges, and who was so strongly fenced in,
that there was no getting at him, but by cutting
through a whole troop of veterans. But all con
sidering readers easily discerned, that though he
asserted three real, distinct, coequal, coeternal per
sons, (not in one singular and solitary, but) in one
numerical nature and essence, not taking away
the subordination of the second and third to the
first person; yet he did neither own the Platonic
inequality of Dr. Cudworth, nor the Sabellian com
position and union of others, nor the novel and
philosophical explications of Dr. Sherlock. Dr. Cud-
worth had asserted the Son to be God, in the very
DR. GKORGK BULL. 091
same sense which Dr. Clarke hath done: ami that 1685.
the Son and Spirit may have the divine attributes,
such as omnipotence, omniscience, and the rest
ascribed to them ; but that they are not omnipotent
and omniscient, ad intra, of themselves, (and so of
the rest,) but only by means of the Father's con
currence. Also Dr. Sherlock had introduced new
terms without and against the authority of the
church, and had mixed philosophy with divinity, in
a matter not to be decided but by revelation only ;
and so expressed himself, as to seem to destroy the
unity of the Deity, and to make himself suspected of
tritheism by more than a few ; though our learned
author in his Discourse of the Catholic Doctrine
of the Trinity \ &c., seems to clear him from that
charge. And besides these, several others were for
framing schemes out of their own heads, concerning
this ineffable mystery, and so departed from the old
trodden way, which is so plainly described in this
excellent treatise f.
But notwithstanding all this, it was no sooner HOW ad-
printed at Oxford, but it was received with an uni-L \veT
versal applause, as it greatly deserved : and the fame j
thereof soon spread itself into foreign parts, where it
was highly valued by the best judges of antiquity,
though of different persuasions. Hence an Unita
rian writer, who calleth himself a disinterested per
son, though he hath given \mjudgment against it,
with all the strength and learning that he was
f [In the year 1718, i. e. nine years after Bull's death, and
thirty-three years after the appearance of the Defensio, Dr. Whitby
published a work, entitled, Disquisition es modesttz in clarissinri
Bulli Defensionew Fiiiei Niccence, an account of which work may
be seen in Waterland, vol. ii. p. 282, &c.
U 2
THE LIFE OF
1685. master of, yet was obliged by the irresistible evi-
~ deuce of truth, to give this following character, both
of the book and author, viz., # " After Dr. Cuclworth,
" came Dr. Bull, author of the Defence of the Ni-
" cene Faith, a book that has rendered the writer
" of it very famous, not in England only or chiefly,
" but beyond the water. It is composed in a style
" most truly Latin, with much vivacity of expres-
" sion, with great vigour and subtilty of thought :
" in short, it is worthy of the noble argument of
" which he treats. This author having studied the
" Fathers with an application, diligence, and ob-
" servation, almost peculiar to him, perceived that
" the schools have departed from that notion of the
" Trinity believed and professed by some of the
" principal Fathers." Thus far he ; which was
surely confession enough from an enemy. But the
answerer of this Socinian pamphlet, who is supposed
to be Dr. Sherlock himself, in a discourse entitled,
The Distinction between Real and Nominal Tri
nitarians examined, &c., hath made this reflection
hereupon ; that this was done out of pure artifice
only, not out of any good-will for our author, or
disinterestedness between the two contending par
ties, but h " that all that this Socinian intended by
" bringing Dr. Bull into the fray, was to follow the
" blow the animadverter, [Dr. South,] and the Ox-
" ford decree had given to a Trinity of distinct,
" proper, subsisting, living, intelligent persons, (which
" is all that Dr. Bull or the dean assert,) by
g The Judgment of a disinterested Person, concerning the Con
troversy about the blessed Trinity, depending between Dr. South
and Dr. Sherlock, 4to. an. 1696.
h Page 4.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 293
" their charge of tritheism, which he hoped would be 1685.
" a sufficient answer to that otherwise unanswerable
" book ; and together with Dr. Bull would confute
" all the Fathers at once, on whose authority he so
" much relies, and to whom he perpetually appeals ;
" for no Christian must hearken to those men,
" whatever their authority be, did they really (as
" they are unjustly charged) preach three Gods ;
" and thus he thinks he has got rid of all antiquity,
" and of the tritheistic Trinity with it." But what
soever might be his design, and this seems very
probable which here is alleged against him, it must
still be confessed, that nothing but the truth forced
this character from him. And indeed this book
was so universally applauded, that it brought over
to the author several who were before his enemies,
or that at least were doubtful, whether he was
orthodox in the faith. The university of Oxford
accounted it an honour to them, to have so learned
and useful a treatise printed at their press, and
written by one who had been formerly a member
of their body, but was driven away by the wicked
ness of the times, as hath been already remarked.
Wherefore they thought it incumbent upon them
to confer what honour they could upon him, as shall
be afterwards related, who by this judicious and ela
borate defence of the catholic faith, had contributed
so much to the honour, not only of the university
itself, but of the church and nation, in foreign
churches and nations.
LXTI. In the year lb'90, the bishop of Meaux, The bishop
whose History of the Variations, &c'., had been "e
1 [Histoire des Variations des Eglises Protestantes. 1688.]
294 THE LIFE OF
1685. attacked in defence of the protestants, (but especially
sie^J^Teu of the French Calvinists,) by monsieur Jurieu, with
for^he8""' to° little Deference to the primitive Fathers of the
sense of 'the cnurcu set forth a discourse against this his ad-
Fathers 11- f
about the versary, on purpose to prove, that his way ot pro
ceeding did effectually tend to the very undermining
of Christianity, or at least to the establishment of
Socinianism ; and that it was a method condemned,
not only by the Roman catholics, but by the most
judicious protestant writers, such as Dr. Bull in par
ticular. And having in his aforesaid history made
honourable mention of our most learned author, as
before was taken notice of; he upon this fresh occa
sion frequently maketh his appeal to him, and send-
eth his readers to satisfy themselves, in the collection
of testimonies gathered by him out of the Fathers.
In one place he saith, " That I may have no occa-
" sion, my brethren, to defend against you the doc-
" trine of the first ages, concerning the eternal gene-
" ration of the Son, if your minister hath any doubt
" hereof, and is not willing to read the learned trea-
" tises of a k father Thomassin, who so profoundly
" explains the ancient traditions, or the learned pre-
" face of a J father Petau, which is the elucidation
" and key of his whole doctrine, concerning this
" matter, I send him to m BULL, that learned Eng-
" lish protestant, the treatise, where he hath so well
" defended the Fathers, who lived before the council
" of Nice. You must either renounce the faith of
" the holy Trinity, which God forbid, or presuppose
k Dogmata Theolog. Thomass. torn. iii.
1 Petav. Pref. torn. ii. Theolog. Dogm.
111 Premier Avertisement aux Protestants sur les Lettres du
Ministre Jurieu contre L'Histoire des Variations. §.xxv.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 295
" with me that this author hath reason." For 168,5.
monsieur Jurieu, by endeavouring to find variations ~
in the ancient Fathers, and treading in the steps of
Bailee, did the cause of Christianity in general more
hurt, than he did his own good by it. For if»
according to him, the primitive Christians did not
believe "the eternity of the Son, or the immuta
bility of the divine essence, or the equality of the
second and third persons with the first, or the
coeternity of them all three ; or if they were so
ignorant of the mystery of the incarnation, and
knew not even the unity and perfection of God,
known to the very pagans by the light of nature,
and were so far from understanding the Scriptures,
that they did not read them ; and if they, even the
most famous Fathers of the three first centuries,
were such poor and paltry divines as he represents
them, and could be guilty, not only of such gross
ignorance, but also of the most capital errors and
heresies, there must soon be an end of Christian
faith and doctrine, and all must terminate in deism
or natural religion. For confutation therefore of all
these heavy charges against these ancient witnesses
of our religion, the learned and judicious defence of
the Ante-Nicene Fathers by this our author is rightly
appealed to, for the sake of our common Christianity,
in which all equally are concerned.
But here it is very remarkable, that our author's An instance
book was in such esteem abroad, both with Ro- Dr.Bulft
manists and protestants, that even monsieur Jurieu e'SeemwTby
himself contended, no less than the bishop his ad- Ro,manists
and pro-
versary, to have him on his side, saying, that Bull's testants.
n Sect. 7, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16.
296 THE LIFE OF
1685. observations and his, were as like as an egg to an
egg, concerning the generation of the Son of God.
But the bishop of Meaux replied to monsieur Ju-
rieu, that without entering into all the particulars,
it was enough to let him know, that he, the bishop,
had taken from him in one word all the ancients, ly
sending him to BULL ; as from whom he might learn
the true explication of all their passages. This he
did in his very first advertisement, written against
this famous French minister and refugee. But
Jurieu cared not, it seems, to confess, that either
our author was favourable to the side of his adver
sary in this dispute, or that so learned a protestant
as Dr. Bull should carry away from him all his
authors together at once, without leaving him so
much as one of them : and therefore would pre
tend in his Avis a M. Beauval, that there was the
nearest agreement betwixt his and our author's sen
timents, as to all these matters, but more particu
larly as to the theology of the Fathers, concerning
the nativity and coming forth of the Son of God, for
the creation of the world. Whereby he most evi
dently injured Dr. Bull, and at the same time also
exposed himself to his adversary, when there was no
need for it.
Mr. Bull LXIII. Mr. Bull wrote and published this his
twenty-se-
ven years learned and judicious treatise, of the Defence of the
Sudding- Niceiie Faith, during the time he was rector of
Suddington, where he had now continued about
twenty-seven years0; and for twenty years of that
0 [He told to Dr. Parsons, chancellor of the diocese, a remark
able instance of the longevity of his parishioners : he had buried
DR. GEORGE BULL. 297
time had no other preferment in the church, but 1685.
those two parishes united, after the manner that
hath been already related ; the income whereof did
not amount to above 100/. a year, clear of taxes.
He found himself very early under a necessity of
making such a provision of books, as might enable
him to carry on his theological studies, which cost
him several hundred pounds, for he was placed at a
distance from any public library, which is a great
advantage to those who can enjoy such a benefit.
His family grew numerous by a large stock of chil
dren, who were to be maintained and educated ; his
friends were always received with great hospitality,
and the poor with a charity that bordered upon pro-
fuseness ; with all this he had several great losses,
and had no great talent in that wisdom, which con-
sisteth in managing an estate to the best advantage ;
by these means he was reduced to great straits, and
by degrees was under a necessity of selling his patri
monial estate, to maintain himself in the service of
the church. But yet his difficult circumstances
never prevailed upon him to trouble the world with
complaints concerning them, neither did he abandon
himself to discontent, which upon such occasions
preyeth upon worldly minds ; none of these things
moved him from pursuing his great design of serv
ing the church of God, and adorning his profession ;
and it pleased the good providence of God, remark
ably to reward his Christian trust and affiance ; for
when he was at the lowest ebb, he was unexpectedly
preferred to a very good living.
ten persons, whose united ages amounted to one thousand years,
and two of them were one hundred and twenty-three years of age
each.]
298 THE LIFE OE
1685. It was in the year 1685, when Mr. Bull was pre-
pref^recT seiited to the rectory of Avening in Gloucestershire,
to Avening }aro.e parish, about eight miles in compass, the
in Glouces- "el *
income whereof is about 200A a year. Ihe patron
of it is Philip Sheppard, of Minching Hampton, esq.,
a very worthy gentleman, eminent for his probity,
sobriety, and charity, and for his great usefulness in
his country ; for he not only administers justice with
great impartiality, but endeavoureth to reconcile all
quarrels and dissensions among his neighbours, be
fore they break into a flame, and before his neigh
bours lose their money and their temper in legal
prosecutions, in which commonly they both suffer.
It happened that, when this living became vacant,
Mr. Sheppard and Mr. Bull, with some other friends,
were at A strop- Wells in Northamptonshire, drink
ing those mineral waters for the advantage of their
health ; and they were even together with some
other gentlemen, when Mr. Sheppard received the
news of it. Upon which he acquainted the com
pany, that he had a very good living to dispose of,
and reckoned up all those qualifications he expected
in the person upon whom he should bestow it ;
which so exactly agreed to Mr. Bull's character, that
every one present plainly perceived that Mr. Shep
pard designed to determine that preferment in Mr.
Bull's favour. But he had too much humility to
make the application to himself, and therefore took
not the least notice of it. Some time after, Mr. Bull
withdrew with some of the company to walk in the
garden, which opportunity Mr. Sheppard took to
declare, that he had on purpose given those hints,
that Mr. Bull might be encouraged to apply to him
for it; but finding his modesty was too great to
DR. GEORGE BULL. 299
make that step, lie was resolved to offer it to him, 1685.
who had more merit to deserve it, than assurance to
ask for it : which accordingly he did, as soon as
Mr. Bull returned into the room ; which he received
with all those acknowledgments which were due for
so good a living to so generous a patron.
And here it will not be improper to observe, that His natural
Mr. Bull had in his natural temper a great modesty where his
and backwardness in stirring for his secular interest ; "oiu-erneT8
he endeavoured to deserve preferments, rather than
to solicit for them ; and his mind was so entirely
taken up in his studies, and in the discharge of his
pastoral duties, that he never found leisure to form
schemes for his own advancement, and much less
time to prosecute those methods, which are too fre
quently submitted to in order to obtain it. He
often thanked God for this happy disposition that
was placed in him, which he said had guarded him
from many attempts, very unbecoming his holy func
tion, and had secured to him great peace of mind, in
the possession of what he enjoyed in the church,
which, he said, divine Providence alone, and not his
application, had procured for him. This he looked
upon as the true Christian primitive wTay of being
preferred, VIRTUTE AMBIRE NON FAVITO-
RIBUS ; and whenever he met with this modest
and conscientious temper, he encouraged the person
steadily to pursue his duty, and to depend upon
God.
Upon his removing to AveningP, one of his first The state
cares was to rebuild the parsonage house, part tion of the
whereof had been burnt down, sometime before he {^enter
P [His son-in-law, archdeacon Stephens, succeeded him as rec
tor of Suddington.]
300 THE LIFE OF
1685. became incumbent. This expense was very hard
upon a person who was never beforehand with the
world ; but being necessary for the conveniency of
his family, and the benefit of his successors, he
cheerfully engaged in it. The people of his parish
gave Mr. Bull, for some time, great trouble and
uneasiness ; there were many of them very loose and
dissolute, and many more disaffected to the disci
pline and Liturgy of the Church of England. This
state and condition of the parish did not discourage
Mr. Bull from doing his duty, though it occasioned
him many difficulties in the discharge of it ; and he
suffered many indignities and reproaches, with ad
mirable patience and Christian fortitude, for not
complying with those irregular practices, which had
too long prevailed among them. But by steadiness
and resolution, in performing his holy function ac
cording to the rubric, by his patient demeanour and
prudent carriage, by his readiness to do them all
offices of kindness, and particularly by his great
charity to the poor, who in that place were very
numerous, he did in the end remove all those pre
judices which they had entertained against him, and
reduced them to such a temper, as rendered his
labours effectual among them. Insomuch, that they
generally became constant in their attendance upon
the public worship, and very decent in their beha
viour at it ; and what was effected with the greatest
difficulty, they brought their children to be baptized
at church ; for when all other arguments failed, the
assurance he gave them, that this was the practice of
the reformed churches, persuaded them to comply
without any farther scruple. Indeed the people by
degrees, perceiving that he had no design upon them
DR. GEORGE BULL. 301
but their own good, of which they frequently experi- 1685.
mented several instances, their aversion was changed
into love and kindness ; and though at his first com
ing among them, they expressed a great deal of ani
mosity and disrespect to his person and family, yet
many years before he left them, they seemed highly
sensible of their error, and gave many signal proofs
of their hearty good-will towards him and them ;
and when he was promoted from this parish to the
bishopric of St. David, no people could testify more
concern and sorrow, than the parishioners did upon
this occasion, for the loss of those advantages which
they enjoyed by his living among them. And I am
credibly informed, that to this day they never name
him without expressions of gratitude and respect.
For some time before his coming to Avening, he He keeps a
_ - .,..,. curate, and
had made use or a curate to assist him in his pa- his manner
rochial duties ; but that help became now much more hi,""
necessary, by reason of the largeness of his parish,
and the ill state of his health, which he had very
much impaired by his night studies, in which he
had taken great delight during the vigour of his age.
Yet notwithstanding this assistance, except he was
prevented by sickness, he preached once every Lord's
day, and read the prayers frequently himself the
other part of the day, when his curate preached.
He chose to divide after this manner the public ad
ministrations, that the people might not entertain a
mean opinion of his curates, as if they were not quali
fied for the duties of the pulpit ; and that they might
have better thoughts of our excellent Liturgy, when
they saw the parochial minister officiate himself.
He very frequently condemned the wicked practice
(as he called it) of those incumbents, who by their
302 THE LIFK OF
1685. pride, selfishness, or neglect, give countenance to
~~ those fatal mistakes among the people. There was
one use indeed he made of a curate, which will ap
pear surprising, because I believe seldom or never
practised, and that was to admonish him of his
faults; the proposal was from himself, that they
mio-ht agree from that time to tell one another
o o
freely, in love and privacy, what they observed amiss
in each other : it is certain, this might help to regu
late the conduct of his own life ; but it had this pe
culiar advantage, that it gave him a handle to find
fault without offence, with any thing that appeared
wrong in his curate ; for when the liberty was mu
tual, neither of them could be blamed for the use
of it. I relate this circumstance with the more
certainty, because I received the information of it
from the worthy clergyman himself who was then his
curate, and with whom this agreement was made.
1686. LX1V. He had not been long at A veiling, before
preferred ne was preferred to the archdeaconry of Landaff;
s'ho^San1" ^or ^ aPPeareth by the register book of the chapter
croft to the of that church, that Mr. Bull was installed archdea-
archdea-
conryof con the 20th of June, 1686. This considerable post
being his in the church was bestowed upon him by archbishop
ficm.es0p Bancroft, whose option it was; and purely in consi
deration of the great and eminent services he had
done the church of God, by his learned and judicious
works, as Dr. Bately, his grace's chaplain, expressed
it, in a letter writ to Mr. Bull, by the order of his
lord. The manner of Mr. Bull's receiving this ho
nourable station in the church added very much to
his reputation, because it was conferred upon him by
an archbishop, who had a particular regard to the
DR. GKORGE BULL. 303
merit of those he advanced, without any solicitation l686-
or application made by Mr. Bull himself.
And indeed what could be expected less from so His grace's
venerable a prelate, who had all those great abilities01
of learning and wisdom, of piety and integrity, joined
with a prudent zeal for the honour of God, and the
welfare and prosperity of the church, which qualified
him for that elevated station wherein the providence
of God had placed him ; and yet at the same time
was endowed with such large measures of mortifica
tion and self-denial, contempt of the world and pas
sive courage, as enabled him, by the assistance of
God's grace, with great composure of mind, to sub
mit to be deprived of all which he could not keep
with a good conscience, as it is expressed on the left
side of his tomb, by his grace's order. And it is
affirmed by those who had the honour to be better
acquainted with him than I was, " That the most
" greedy worldling never enjoyed half that solid
" complacency in the most lucky and fortunate ac-
" quisitions, as his grace did, in being reduced to
" the mean circumstances of a private life." For
after his deprivation, he retired into the country, the
place of his nativity, at Fresingfield in Suffolk,
where, full of piety and good works, as well as years,
he died the 24th of November, 1693, in the 77th
year of his age, and was buried in the churchyard
of the aforesaid parish, against the south wall of the
church, by his own appointment. It is certain that
this great man had, in his very youth, been seasoned
with sufferings ; and in the flower of his age he re
fused both the covenant and the engagement ; the
taking of which were in those times necessary steps
to preferment; though one oath was designed to
804 THE LIFE OF
1686. propagate rebellion, and to destroy the church, and
the other to support a cruel usurpation. But he
chose to relinquish his interest in his native country,
and submitted to a voluntary exile, rather than
advance himself by the rewards of ungodliness, and
own an unjust power. His virtue was uniform and
of a piece ; for when he was in his greatest ele
vation, he declined the commands of his lawful and
rightful prince, rather than obey him to the preju
dice of the true religion and the established laws,
which are certainly the measures of the subject's obe
dience ; yet he would not resist his sovereign to save
both, because he apprehended the laws of the land,
as well as the precepts of the Gospel, expressly forbid
it ; and chose rather to be deprived of all his honours
and ecclesiastical revenues, than to violate his con
science, or stain the purity of those principles which
he had always maintained and defended.
The nature Having mentioned this preferment of the arch-
of an option.
deaconry of Landaff, as the archbishop's option, I
hope it will not be thought improper to add some
thing concerning the nature of this archiepiscopal
privilege, for the sake of such readers as are not
much versed in matters of this nature ; and because
I have met with none of those writers who treat of
ecclesiastical laws, that have touched upon it. And
I the rather choose to insert it here, because I owe
the knowledge I shall advance upon this subject to
a conversation of archbishop Bancroft's, who is well
known to have been admirably skilled in matters of
this kind ; though if the learned shall discover any
mistakes in what I am about to relate in this mat
ter, I am very willing to challenge them as my own ;
for they are certainly due to the imperfect manner
DR. GEORGE BULL. 305
of receiving, what was, without doubt, delivered
with great judgment and exactness. To explain
therefore this privilege, the reader must know, that
the archbishop of Canterbury hath a right, upon the
promotion of every bishop in his grace's province, to
choose any one ecclesiastical preferment, prebend, or
benefice in the gift of such bishop, which is called
the archbishop's option ; which is even at the dis
posal of the executors of the archbishop, if the bishop
that is promoted doth not die before the option be-
cometh vacant. This prerogative is built upon im
memorial custom ; it having been found by archbi
shop Bancroft so acknowledged, in deeds dated above
three hundred years ago. The ground of this right
was the power the archbishop had to impose two
persons of his own choice upon any of his suffra
gans, for their chaplains, upon their consecration ;
which persons, the respective bishops, at first, were
obliged to maintain, by allowing them pensions, till
they could supply them with preferments out of
their own dioceses. This was looked upon as a
great grievance to the bishops, and an increase of
that necessary charge which attends their promo
tion ; and these pensions were accounted a heavy
burden, because the bishops were forced to part with
their ready money to support strangers. The com
plaints of this matter being very frequent, it was at
last accommodated after this manner, viz., That the
bishop should by deed grant to the archbishop such
a benefice or dignity in his diocese as he should
name ; but this grant did only bind the bishop who
made it, and not his successors. To remove and
supply this defect, archbishop Grindal did agree with
the bishops, that they should make a grant for one
x
306 THE LIFE OF
1686. and twenty years, but then, if that preferment did
not fall vacant in that time, the grant was of no
effect. Archbishop Whitgift carried this affair still
farther, and brought the bishop to insert at least half
a score preferments in their grants, reserving to
himself a liberty to fix upon the first that became
vacant. But after the statute of limitation of grants
in queen Elizabeth's time, the method now established
seems to have taken place.
The degree While Mr. Bull was at Landaff, upon the nomi-
of" doctor
conferred nation of bishop Fell, who thought it a shame that
by the uni- such a man should be suffered to lie any longer in
o3ord.°f obscurity, without any public notice taken of, or
character conferred upon him, it was moved in a full
convocation at Oxford, by the regius professor of
divinity, Dr. Jane, That as an acknowledgment of
the singular honour done that university, and of the
lasting service done to the whole church by Mr.
George Bull, through his excellent book of Defensio
Fidei Nicenez, lately printed and published among
them ; and for a perpetual testimony of their esteem
and favour for a person of his merits, he should be
admitted presently to the degree and title of a doc
tor in divinity, notwithstanding that he had never
taken any academical degree, not so much as in
arts. To which the convocation of that learned
body most readily consented, not being able to
refuse, to one who had so admirably defended the
ancient doctors of the catholic church, an honorary
title, which had been deserved by him on more than
one account ; and the conferring whereof would be
no less honourable to themselves than him, by allow
ing him a name in their Fasti, among the modern
doctors of the Anglican church, which the universal
DR. GEORGE BULL. 307
suffrage of the learned work), must even without l686-
this their authentic declaration have advanced him
unto. Whereupon the bishop writ a letter, to thank
Mr. Bull for the noble present he had made him in
that immortal work, and to acquaint him at the
same time with the honour which the university de
signed him : and the professor writ also another let
ter to him, giving him an account of what had passed
in convocation, with respect to him, in consideration
of his great and eminent service for the church by
his last book ; and pressing him to come therefore to
Oxford, that he might there receive the tokens of
their esteem, and be admitted to the highest degree
of honour that was in their power to confer on any.
Mr. Bull received these letters at Landaff, where he
had just taken possession of the archdeaconry, which
archbishop Sancroft had bestowed upon him ; where
upon he came to Oxford about the beginning of July,
that he might be present at the act, in order for per
fecting the said degree ; and upon the tenth of the
said month was created doctor, in the year
MDCLXXXVI, without the payment of the usual
fees.
sermon on
Thursday
in every
LXV. I have already, in other parts of this Life, Heesta-
given so particular an account of Dr. Bull's method Sf s
in governing his parish, and of his manner in per
forming1 the duties of his holy function, that it is not wfk> ".lth
* catechising.
necessary to add any thing upon that subject, farther
than what of that nature appears to have been pe
culiar to his conduct at Avening. Now the state
and condition of that parish having been as I have
before related, one means he fixed upon in order to
reform it, was to have a sermon in his church every
x 2
308 THE LIFE OF
1686. Thursday; the design whereof was, farther to in-
~ struct the people, who were very ignorant, in the
principles of the Christian religion ; a method which
was not unlikely to prevail upon them. For when
they found him so zealous, as to do more than they
thought he was obliged to, they were ready to con
clude, that their welfare was the great motive which
influenced him ; and to make this more effectual, the
children were on the same day catechised by the
curate, which still tended to the instruction of those
of riper years : and yet, to bring this good design to
a greater perfection, he always distributed on such
days five shillings among the poor, that they might
be encouraged to attend the church at such seasons.
How long he continued this practice it is not very
certain, though there is no doubt but that he pursued
it for some time.
very scm- It is required by the 34th canon, that the candi-
signing tes- dates of holy orders, among other preliminaries ne
cessary for ordination, shall bring sufficient testi
monials of their sober life and conversation, from
such as have known and lived near them for three
years before. Now upon this account there was
frequent application made to Dr. Bull, during his re
sidence in this parish, and for some time before, to
procure his hand to testimonials ; for his fame and
reputation were become so considerable, that the
characters he gave had great weight with those to
whom they were addressed. But he was very nice
as to this particular ; many he refused who impor
tuned him for his recommendation, and he took some
pains to satisfy himself, before he would pretend to
satisfy others. It hath been rightly observed by my
lord Bacon, " That nothing is thought so easy a
DR. GEORGE BULL. 309
" request to a great person, as his letter, and yet if it 1686-94.
" be not in a good cause, it is so much out of his re-
" putation." For it reflects upon his understanding,
if he maketh a wrong judgment ; and if he knoweth
that the person doth not deserve the character given
him, he is certainly liable to a worse censure. But
where the church is concerned, the consequences are
much more fatal ; and therefore it is to be wished,
that all persons who are applied to upon this account
to sign testimonials would be very conscientious in
this matter ; that so a good method may not be ren
dered ineffectual, by a very mischievous complai
sance, of which a strict account must be given at the
last day, since bishops the best disposed to do their
duty may be imposed upon by eminent hands.
One great contest he had with the disorderly peo- He suppres-
ple of Avening related to the observation of a feast, servatLn 'of
which was attended the day following with extra-
vagant revels. It is true, that the piety of our
ancestors did set apart one day in every year, to
commemorate the dedication of the public place of
worship, and every church almost had its anniversary ;
and good laws were enacted, that they might be
both solemnly and orderly kept. These days thus
established were called wakes from the Saxon word,
which signifies to watch. But the observation of
them degenerating into luxury, they grew very
grievous to all sober people, and the good reason of
their institution did not make amends for the obsti
nate abuse of them. In order to rectify these dis
orders, Dr. Bull appeared against them in the pulpit,
and exposed the folly and madness of them, with a
true Christian courage : for he did not fear to dis
please men, when the honour of God and the good
310 THE LIFE OF
1686-94. of souls were at stake. But when neither his in-
~ structions nor his exhortations, both in public and
private, could prevail upon the generality of them
to observe that regularity, which the laws of Christ
ianity require from all its professors, he procured
an order of sessions to suppress it ; which effectually
put an end to it many years before he left the place;
but it cost him much time and labour; though it
was usual with him never to give over any thing of
that nature, till he had attained the good end he at
first proposed.
He preaches Durino' the reign of kino- James the Second, when
against po-
peryinthe our apprehensions of the increase or popery were no
khfgnjames. ways groundless, but founded in those measures,
which we apparently saw were taken to advance
and promote it ; then it was that Dr. Bull thought
it his duty chiefly to lay open the errors of the
church of Rome, and he then took all opportunities,
both in his own parish and in other public places
where he was called to preach, as at Bath and
Gloucester, and in a visitation sermon at Hampton,
to convince the people how much they would hazard
their salvation, if ever they suffered themselves by
sly arts and insinuations to be drawn into the Ro
man communion; wherein they had made many
additions to the primitive doctrines of Christianity,
and had required their novelties to be received as
necessary articles of faith, though the holy Scrip
tures and primitive antiquity were silent concerning
them, and in some points expressly against them.
These errors in doctrine he aggravated by consider
able corruptions in her public offices ; which were
not only in an unknown tongue, and consequently
no ways edifying to the people, but in some parts
DR. GEORGE BULL. 311
were addressed to saints and angels, contrary to 1686-94.
Scripture, and the practice of the primitive church.
It must be owned, that Dr. Bull was indeed a very
frank asserter of some primitive truths, upon which
are built several errors of the church of Rome ; and
the sermons, which are now printed, will furnish the
reader with several instances of this remark. Now
among those who cannot or will not distinguish the
foundation from the hay and stubble that is built
upon it, we must not wonder if he was thought too
much inclining to the church of Rome ; which un
just censure was confirmed by his exact conformity
to the rules of the church of England, in a place
where the people were under great prejudices, both
against her discipline and Liturgy. But this ca
lumny hath been thrown upon the greatest lights of
our church, and upon one of the best men that ever
swayed the sceptre of Great Britain, and will be
the fate of many more, who shall zealously contend
for the primitive doctrines and discipline of Christ
ianity ; and surely, if that excellent prince, king
Charles the First, and that primitive prelate, arch
bishop Laud, could not escape the load of such ma
licious and groundless imputations, it is not to be
wondered if others, who pursue their steps, and
tread in their paths of religion, though they move
in a much inferior sphere, meet with the same oblo
quy and reproach which they so severely felt. But
yet in the day of any trial, the men of this charac
ter will be found the best defenders of the church
of England, and the boldest champions against the
corruptions of the church of Rome. How little Dr.
Bull deserved this reflection, appeared now by his
courage and resolution, in attacking those pernicious
312 THE LIFE OF
1686-94. errors, which he apprehended might gain ground
by the authority and favour of a prince upon the
throne, who was unhappily engaged in that com
munion. For Dr. Bull, like a vigilant and conscien
tious pastor, warned his people of the approaching
danger, supplied them with arguments for the hour
of temptation, confirmed them in the principles of
the protestant religion, and made them sensible how
much it was their duty, rather to expose themselves
to any temporal sufferings, than embrace such
principles and practices, as tended to hazard the
salvation of their immortal souls.
He was Some time after the revolution, Dr. Bull was put
made a
justice of into the commission of the peace, in which he con-
peace after . . Ml 1
therevoiu- tmued, with some little interruption, till he was
made a bishop. The main inducement, which pre
vailed upon him to act in a secular post, was, that
he might have an opportunity to put the laws in
execution against immorality and profaneness ; that
those whom he could not convince by his arguments,
nor persuade by his affectionate way of enforcing
them, might be terrified into better manners by the
sword of justice which was put into his hands. To
this purpose, though he declined meddling in other
matters, which no ways were subservient to his own
profession, yet he was vigorous in suppressing vice
and immorality, and by the help of some clergymen
in his neighbourhood, who procured him inform
ations against common swearers, drunkards, and
profaners of the Lord's day, he was very successful.
I know this work of reformation of manners, as
under the care and management of a society for
that purpose, lieth under some prejudices, even with
sober and understanding persons ; but I believe it
DR. GEORGE BULL. 313
chiefly proceedeth from some false stories, which 1686-94.
have been raised on purpose to discredit the under
taking; which calumnies and slanders having been
too easily believed, have thrown contempt upon the
whole work, so good in itself, and so necessary for
the welfare of the community; for I cannot appre
hend what service the best laws can do the public,
if the execution of them is discountenanced. All
that can be desired in this case is, that an impartial
inquiry may be made into such reports as bear
hard upon the proceedings of the society ; and I am
very much inclined to think, that generally they
will be found false ; which opinion I ground upon
the experience I have made of this kind myself; I
am sure they cannot be justly condemned, till they
have been admitted to a fair hearing ; and if some
little indiscretion should be discovered in the ma
nagement of some, there is no reason that should be
made a handle to disparage all such useful proceed
ings. It must be owned, that it requireth great
courage and resolution, to get the better of that op
position, which a man is sure to meet with in affairs
of this nature, from the world and the Devil. It
requireth a zeal according to knowledge, to act in
this matter from a principle of religion, without any
mixture of malice or self-interest ; and great pru
dence and circumspection is necessary to determine
the best manner of doing this good work ; but above
all, the strictness of their own lives must support
that zeal, which is shewn for the reformation of
others. And I have great reason to think that
these excellent qualifications have not been wanting
in several gentlemen, who have consulted together,
to give a check to those disorderly walkers that
314 THE LIFE OF
1686-94. abound among us. I am sure they have been at
~~ great charges to support the expenses of legal pro
ceedings, and to defend constables from being ma
liciously and falsely prosecuted, and to make them
some reparation for the unreasonable abuses they
have met with upon such occasions ; though they
who have lost their lives in discharge of their oath
and duty, by endeavouring to detect and suppress
vice and immorality, as it is certain some have done,
must expect their reward at a higher tribunal. It
is true indeed, that by the blessing of God upon
their vigorous proceedings, great numbers of lewd
persons have been brought to legal punishment, and
others have been forced to abscond, in order to
escape the terror of the laws ; by which means, seve
ral sinners have been recovered to a sense of their
follies, and reclaimed from their wicked practices;
at least bad examples have been removed out of
sight, arid public scandals have not been so frequent.
Which is sufficient to entitle all those, who labour in
this difficult province, to the prayers and good wishes
and substantial encouragement of all those who are
concerned for the welfare of their country, and have
the honour of God at heart.
1694. LXVI. In the year 1694, Dr. Bull, while rector
c-~ °f Evening, published his Judicium Ecclesia Ca-
ca- tJwlictz, &c., which was printed at Oxford, and writ-
tholtcce . A
written a- ten in defence of the Anathema, as his former book
P' had been of the Faith, pronounced at the first
council of Nice. The occasion of writing this trea
tise was, that in his reading the 34th chapter of
the fourth book of the Institutions of Episcopius,
where he treateth concerning the necessity of be-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 315
lieving the manner of the divine filiation of Jesus 1694.
Christ, and putteth this question, " Whether the
" fifth (and highest) manner of Christ's being the
" Son of God be necessary to be known and be-
" lieved, and whether they who deny the same are
" to be excommunicated and anathematized ?" he
made some remarks hereupon for his own private
use, and drew up an answer to the arguments of
that learned writer, whereby he was persuaded, that
the primitive catholics did not refuse communion
with those that received not the article of the divine
generation or filiation of Jesus Christ, if they ac
knowledged him to be the Son of God, by his mira
culous conception of the Holy Ghost, by virtue of his
mediatorial office, by his resurrection from the dead,
and by his exaltation to sit at the right hand of
God the Father.
Episcopius, as our author hath observed, was a
man of great natural parts, and more than commonly scopes, and
learned in many things; but he was one who very ^sA™°teVes
little consulted or cared for the writings of the a
cient Fathers ; yea, plainly despised them. Whence,
writing against Wading the Jesuit, who made a
mighty boast of the Fathers and councils, as if they
were all generally on his side against the protest-
ants, he took him up short, telling him once for
all, that he was mistaken in thinking to draw him
into such an endless maze and labour, at which he
must work like a mill-horse, for the sake only of an
empty name : and that he did not envy those, who
had a mind to be always roving arid fluctuating in
that ocean of councils and Fathers, and to be lay
ing out upon them all their time and pains, the
glory of being esteemed for their vast reading and
316 THE LIFE OF
1694. capacious memory: for that he had no ambition in
him after a fame for that, which cost so dear and
signified so little. Wherefore he gave the Jesuit to
understand, that he would deal with him with other
sort of weapons, than those which he brought : and
that because he did not think any great stress was
to be laid upon the Fathers and councils, in the
points controverted betwixt them, since they were
equally challenged by both sides, he had resolved
not to be at much pains about them, nor to purchase
with so much sweat, that which he might afterwards
come to repent of. But it were much to have been
wished, that he had here excepted at least the Fa
thers and writers of the three first centuries of the
church. For most certainly, as our author hath
well noted hereupon, had he expended more of his
time and study in reading of these, he would herein
have taken pains not to be repented of, either by
himself or the Church of Christ. For it is his judg
ment, that so learned and good a man would never
have undertaken so far the patronage of the Arians
and Socinians, as to excuse their doctrine concern
ing the person of our Saviour, by the pretended
judgment and authority of the primitive church, as
if it were but erroneous only and not heretical also.
This Dr. Bull could no ways bear to hear of, who is
positive, that it may be demonstrated from the pre
sent remains which we have of church antiquity,
that all those churches in the most early ages,
which are in this case appealed to, did agree to
condemn the same, as a most pernicious and deadly
heresy, and that the Fathers of the council of Nice
did no more than declare herein the sentiment of
the whole catholic and apostolic church, or of all
DR. GEORGE BULL. 317
the several particular churches from which they 1694.
came, and which they represented, by that damna-~
tory clause, which was added by them to their
confession of faith.
The form of the anathema pronounced in thatTheara«-
thema of
council, which seemed too harsh and uncharitable the council
to Episcopius, but which Dr. Bull hath vindicated defended
from all the objections and prejudices raised against
it, is this ; ° " Them that say, that there was a time
" when he was not, or that before he was born he was
" not, or that he was made out of things that are not,
" or that he is of another substance or essence ; and
" them that maintain, that the Son of God is created,
" or convertible, or changeable ; all these doth the
" catholic and apostolical church anathematize." But
this answer of Dr. Bull to Episcopius, in defence of
the said anathema of the council, as the judgment of
the whole catholic church in the purest ages of it,
was not written and published so much against
Episcopius himself, or against his disciple Curcel-
laeus, who hath written a P dissertation also much
to the same purpose, or against any of the learned
abroad, whether Remonstrants or Unitarians ; as
against some at home among us, to whom Dr. Bull
giveth the name of mediators, for joining together
two extremes ; who in their writings have made use
of the arguments of Episcopius, Curcellseus, and
even of Socinus himself for this end. Against such
modern reconcilers as these, who stood indifferent
° TOIT 8f \eyovTas, TJV irore, ore OVK rjv, Kal irpiv yfvvTjdrjvai OVK fjv,
KOI e£ OVK OVTOIV tyfvtro, rj f'£ erepas VTrouraerecos fj ovcrias (f)dcrKoi>T(H
dvai, 77 KTKTTOV r) rptTTTov f) dX\oia>T6v rbv Yibv rov Qeov, TOVTOVS
i^fi TJ KadoXmr) KOI aTrocrroXtK?) fKK\r)<Tia.
De Necessitate Cognitionis Christ! .
318 THE LIFE OF
1694. for the truth, and were strangers to the principles of
catholic communion, it appeareth, that this treatise
was principally levelled by the author. Which he
designed should serve for a supplement to his De
fence of the Faith declared in the council of Nice.
And so indeed it is, and a vindication of that Defence
to that purpose.
The main It containetli the judgment of the catholic church
and design of the three first centuries, concerning the necessity
°ngpth!ssh" of believing, that our Lord Jesus Christ is true God.
book- In his premonition to the reader, the author hath
given us an account, as hath been hinted, of the
occasion and design of his engaging against that
learned writer in this present treatise. Which he
hath done after so clear and distinct a manner, as
very little more, besides what I have already taken
notice of, need be said upon it. I shall only there
fore here observe, that about the same time, and for
some few years before, there were certain discourses
and pamphlets printed in English, which, under the
plausible pretences of moderation and charity, were
for breaking down all the fences of orthodox and
catholic communion : and so for leaving the most
fundamental articles of the Christian faith perfectly
indifferent, according as every one shall be inclined
to believe more or less.
With this design, a book, called The Naked Gospel,
was printed at Oxford in 1690, the main subject
whereof was, the simplicity of the Gospel, which our
Lord and his apostles preached, as necessary to be
believed ; with some account of the alterations or
additions, which after-ages either made, or are pre
tended to have made in it ; and of the advantages
and damages which have thereupon ensued to the
DR. GEORGE BULL. 319
catholic church : it is well known, that this book 1694.
was condemned, and ordered to be publicly burnt, by
the convocation of the university of Oxford, upon
the 19th of August the same year ; and there were
two large answers to it printed the next year, the
one written by the Rev. Mr. Thomas Long, B.D.
and one of the prebendaries of St. Peter's at Exeter,
and the other by Mr. William Nichols, M. A. who
was a fellow of Merton, and then chaplain to Ralph
earl of Montague ; to which last was added, a short
history of Socinianism, by the same author : and on
the other side there was published, An Historical
Vindication of The Naked Gospel, which was either
written originally by the famous Monsieur Le Clerc,
or else by him translated into his Life of Eusebius
of Caesarea, as by comparing them will easily be
seen. There were also spread abroad about the
same time several small Socinian tracts, as The .Fire
continued at Oxford, and others, which under the
same pretences of the simplicity of the gospel, and
mutual forbearance, carried on the same design, and
used much the same arguments as Episcopius had
done. There was also published soon after, An
earnest and compassionate Suit for Forbearance, to
the learned Writers of some Controversies at present;
by a melancholy Stander-by ; by which learned
Writers he declared, that he principally meant
Dr. Sherlock and Dr. South. Whereto Dr. Sherlock
returned an answer with a great deal of saltness, in
his Apology for writing against the Socinians. To
which the former presently replied, calling his book,
The Antapology of the melancholy Stander-by; in
answer to the dean of St. Paul's late book, falsely
styled, An Apology for writing against the Soci-
320 THE LIFE OF
1694. nians, &c., which produced, A Defence of the dean
of St. Paul's Apology, &c., in answer to the Anta-
pologist: and so this debate ended between the
dean and the stander-by.
As for the Historical Vindication before mentioned,
Dr. Bull thought himself a little more particularly
concerned therein, because there is inserted in it a
pretty large account of the Arian controversy, and
of the management of the contending sides before,
and at the great council of Nice ; with the history
of a great many facts, somewhat otherwise, than by
him had been represented in his Defence of that
council. Wherefore he resolved to take some notice
of the contents hereof, both in this present treatise
of the Judgment of the Catholic Church, and in
another of the Primitive Tradition, but with very
little notice of the book itself, as not deserving it in
his opinion. The multitude then, of such sort of
pamphlets and tracts, was a main occasion of his
printing at this time this most learned piece: and
his design therein was undoubtedly to limit the
terms of catholic communion to the orthodox faith,
against the latitudinarian notions of the times.
A short ab- LXVII. He hath made a collection in this trea-
amtents ' two of testimonies from the primitive Fathers, which
thod.me" ar£ue not onty tne truth of the divinity of our blessed
Saviour, but also the necessity for a Christian to be
lieve the same, in order to be saved : and thus the
precarious assertion of Episcopius and his disciples
is confuted and overturned by our author. Then he
hath next given us an historical account of those
primitive heretics who first opposed the catholic and
apostolical tradition, concerning the incarnation of
DR. GEORGE BULL. 321
the Son of God, and the two natures in the person ' 694.
of Christ: and at large justified the charge against
the Cerinthians and the Ebionites, for detracting
from the dignity of our Lord, in answer to the ob
jections of Dr. Zuicker and others. So that as in
the Defence of the Nicene Faith there are the wit
nesses of the three first centuries for the Trinity
and incarnation of the eternal Word considered ; in
the Judgment of the Catholic Church, there are
the witnesses of those three centuries also against
those doctrines examined, and balanced with the
former. And farther, he hath given such an account
of the ancient creeds, and more particularly of the
first and most ancient creed of all, and the explica
tions thereof, which are found in Irenseus and Ter-
tullian, as it will be very hard after him to add any
farther light to that matter. For all what the elder
Vossius^, with so much pains and judgment, had
collected upon this subject, with what our most
learned and pious archbishop Usher1" had also writ
ten hereupon, after mature deliberation upon the
whole, will be found applied with great skill, and set
in a very advantageous light, for removing all manner
of doubts concerning the ancient judgment of the
Christian church, both eastern and western, con
cerning these matters. And therefore the creed,
which is commonly called the Apostles Creed, and
which evidently was the creed of the Latin and
western church, is here so explained and defended,
according to most ancient testimonies, as wholly to
q [Dissertatio de 3 Symbolis, Apostolico, dthanasiano, et Constan-
tinopolitano. 1642.]
r [Tractatus de Romans Ecdesice Symbolo Apostolico vetere et
aliis fidel formulis . 1647 et 1660.]
Y
322 THE LIFE OF
1694. take away the edge of those arguments, which
"both Episcopius and Sandius, with the English
Unitarians, have thence drawn to serve their
hypothesis.
In the handling of this subject he is pretty large,
and midertaketh to demonstrate these four propo
sitions or theses ; viz. " I. That the apostolical Creed
" (so called,) however conformable to the apostolical
" doctrine, yet was not dictated by the apostles
" themselves, in that form and method which we
" have it in at this day ; but that it was properly
" the creed of the Roman church, which received its
" completion and perfection in that church about
" four hundred years or more after Christ, the
" churches of the east using all that time another
" creed. II. That the ancient church of Rome had
" reason to use, and did accordingly use, a shorter
" and more succinct creed than that which the
" eastern churches were under a necessity of using ;
" forasmuch 0as these were disturbed with all manner
" of heresies, but in the Roman church there was no
" heresy started up, which adventured to expound
" her more brief confession, otherwise than according
" to the orthodox and catholic meaning, and the
" genuine sense of the church. III. That in the
" Roman (or Apostolic) Creed there is truly contained
" a profession of the divine generation of Christ in
" those words, And I believe in Jesus Christ his
" only Son. IV. That in the creed or rule of faith,
" which obtained in the most ancient churches of
" the east before the first council of Nice, this divine
" eternal generation, or most peculiar manner of the
" Sonship of our blessed Saviour, is delivered and
" declared."
DR. GEORGE BULL. 323
The first thesis is so learnedly defended by the 1694.
great Vossius, that all the critics in general, both of
the Roman and protestant communions, have since
the publication of his most famous book concerning
the three Creeds herein with him concurred, and
rested in his determination. Dr. Bull, among the
rest, concluded the arguments there brought to be
demonstrative in this case, and to need therefore no
farther confirmation. And indeed the English So-
cinians, by their nibbling at them, in opposition
chiefly to Dr. Bull, have but thereby contributed the
more to the establishing the truth of the discovery
which Vossius had made, and the exposing of their
own weakness and ignorance, in researches of this
nature. The second and third of these theses he
hath fully explained and defended : and hath, on
this occasion, with great accurateness, considered all
the several modes of divine filiation, which are
declared by Episcopius, in order to a right and tho
rough stating of the question betwixt them ; and
clearly answered the arguments brought by him, for
understanding the divine generation of our Lord, as
he is the only-begotten of the Father, in any inferior
sense. Under the last theses he hath discoursed
with abundance of learning upon the old oriental
rule of faith, or the most ancient creed that is extant
of the Jewish Christians, being the Hierosolymitan
Creed, which in the earliest and purest ages of the
church was explained by the catechists in their cate
chetical lectures, throughout the churches of Palestine
and the East, as appeareth from the practice of St.
Cyril, when he was a catechist in the church of Je
rusalem, whereof he was created afterwards bishop,
Y 2
THE LIFE OF
1694. at or about the middle of the fourth century ; and as
is confirmed also by the confession and testimony of
another bishop out of Palestine, when sitting in the
council of Nice, even no less a man than the cele
brated Eusebius of Csesarea, who hath transcribed
the very words of the Hierosolymitan Creed, touch
ing the article of the Son of God, in the profession
of his faith delivered in unto the Fathers of that
council, (one small variation admitted into their
symbol only excepted,) according to what he had
been instructed, when a catechumen of that church
of apostolical foundation. The antiquity of this
creed is here justified by most solid arguments ; and
the catechetical exposition, which generally passeth
under the name of St. Cyril, is vindicated to be his,
from the objections which some critics have raised
against it. Each particular article of it is examined,
and upon a most careful examination, both the
whole, and all the parts thereof, are found to be
agreeable to the ancient creeds and confessions, be
fore the general councils of Nice and Constantinople.
The creed itself, as we find it commented upon by
that holy doctor of the church, is as followeth, viz.
The Hiero- / believe in one God, the Father Almiqhty, Maker
solymitan. 7 *
Creed. oj heaven and earth, and of all things visible and
invisible : and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of
God, only-begotten, born of the Father before all
worlds, true God, by whom all things were made;
incarnate and made man, crucified and buried; but
who rose again from the dead on the third day, and
ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of
the Father : and who shall come to judge the living
DR. GEORGE BULL. 325
and the dead., of whose kingdom there shall be no end : l694-
and in the Holy Ghost the Comforter, who hath ~
spoken by the prophets : and in the baptism of repent
ance for the forgiveness of sins : and in one holy
catholic church : and in the resurrection of the flesh :
and in the life everlasting. Amen.
This is the creed expounded by that ancient A farther
bishop of Jerusalem, and defended by Dr. Bull, toSTSiS
be more ancient than those creeds from which some ^^f11"
pretend that it was borrowed: yea, attested to bythisbook-
the very Arians themselves, as he hath shewn by
several of their own confessions ; and by their very
appeals to evangelical and apostolical tradition ;
whence he aptly concludeth them to be self-con
demned, by what they themselves have owned to
have been delivered down to them from the be
ginning. And it is observable here, that as the
church of Jerusalem was, without controversy, the
most ancient of all the oriental churches; and the
common creed of that church probably not much
less ancient : so the Arians, as coming out from the
oriental Christians, did generally frame all their con
fessions of faith, as near to that rule of faith, which
had been received in their churches from the begin
ning, as they could ; and consequently to that of
Jerusalem, as did Eusebius, when he was thought
too much to favour that side. Now upon the whole
matter, this is the conclusion, That since it is agreed
upon by the Arians and catholics, that by the rule
of faith delivered to the churches from the beginning,
all were bound " to believe in the only-begotten Son
" of God, begotten of God the Father before all
" worlds, very God, [or perfect God,] by whom all
326 THE LIFE OF
1694. "things were made;" there can be no other diffi
culty remaining, but to know which side doth best
interpret this rule, that is, most agreeably to the
obvious sense of the words, and the received inter
pretation of the church : and he hath made it very
manifest, that only the catholics did hold the genuine
sense of this rule, by believing the Son to be of the
same nature and essence with the Father, most truly
God ; and that the Arians were very wide from the
truth, by conceiving him to be a creature, and made
out of nothing, and so no other than a vicarious
God, or a second and inferior God. The rule of
faith being therefore rightly interpreted by the ca
tholics, as he hath proved, and as Episcopius himself
doth not disown, he hath thence inferred an as
sertion directly contrary to that of Episcopius8.
8 [It was about this time that the following letter was written
by Dr. Bull to Nelson, and which is preserved in the British Mu
seum. It does not contain any thing of importance : but so few
of his letters being preserved, the reader will perhaps not be sorry
to have it published.
Holburn, London, Aug. 6th, — 94.
WORTHY SIR,
I WAS much troubled, when lately I understood by my sister
Gregory from Mr. Hanger's family, that you never received any
answer to your obliging letter, which about a year agoe (with two
pamphlets) you sent me. I doe assure you that as soon as I
could have leisure cursorily to peruse those pamphlets, I wrote a
brief answer to your letter and them, and delivered it to the post
with my own hand. I directed my letter to be left for you with
madam Nelson, at her house in Throgmorton- street, behind the
old Exchange. Of this I thought good to inform you, that you may
not think me guilty of so much ill nature and ill breeding too, as to
slight so worthy a person and friend as you are, than whom I scarce
know any one in the world I have a greater respect arid (if you
will admitt of that friendly word) love for. I have sent you, to
gether with this, a Latin treatise of mine, which I lately published,
DR. GEORGE BULL. 327
LXVIII. Some time after the publication of the 1694.
Judicium Ecclesits Catholics, &c. I had an oppor- br.
tunity of sending it as a present to monsieur Bos-
SUET, the late bishop of Meaux, who was one of Catholic
Church,&c.
the politest writers of the a#e, and verv muchsentto the
bishop of
esteemed in France for his great learning, as well as Meaux ;
/»•.., ,, ,, . who, with
for ins good sense ; and less could not be expected the rest of
from a person chose for preceptor, to instruct
Dauphin of France, at a time when that nation comPli: .
merited the
abounded with great men. This considerable pre-author-
late had, upon several occasions, expressed a great
value and esteem for Dr. Bull's learning and judg
ment ; so that from the commendations the bishop
had bestowed upon our learned author's former per
formances, I thought it not unlikely that his lord
ship would give a favourable reception to this pro
duction, which was so very acceptable to many other
learned men. And indeed I was not disappointed
in my expectations ; for this small acknowledgment
I made to his lordship, for the many great favours
and which I intreat you to accept of. I do not yet know how
to direct a letter, that it may speedily and certainly come to your
hands. If you will give me direction by a line or two, I shall
very gladly, if you please, maintain a frequent intercourse of letters
with you. I have been some few days in London, and if my
occasions would have permitted, and I could have found you out,
I should have been ambitious of kissing your hand. Indeed I
truly long for an opportunity of seeing your face, and will not de-
spaire of meeting you some time or other at Avening in Glouces
tershire ; where no man living should be more welcome to,
SIR,
Your very affectionate and faithful
friend and humble servant,
GEO. BULL.
If you please at any time to write to me, direct your letter thus : — For
Dr. hull at Avening near Tcdbnry in Gloucestershire.]
328 THE LIFE OF
1694. he was pleased to confer upon me, when I was last
in France, was received by him with a satisfaction,
which could arise from nothing so much, as from the
entertainment he met with in that excellent treatise.
It happened, that when my letter and Dr. Bull's
book were delivered to his lordship, he was then at
St. Germain's en Laye, with the rest of his brethren
met in a general assembly, which is composed of all
the archbishops and bishops of the kingdom of France.
If through age or infirmity, or from some other rea
sonable cause, any of these prelates are hindered
from giving their attendance upon such occasions,
they have the liberty of constituting their proxies.
The usual place of their meeting is either Paris or
St. Germain, but there is none fixed for that pur
pose, because the appointment thereof dependeth
entirely upon the king's pleasure ; no particular
archbishop or bishop hath a right to preside in this
assembly, because it belongeth to the king to nomi
nate, though commonly the honour of being presi
dent is conferred upon the archbishop of Paris.
Upon this occasion, the bishop of Meaux not only
read Dr. Bull's book with great care arid exactness
himself, but thought fit to communicate it to several
other bishops of the greatest eminence, for their
learning and skill in divinity, and for those other
talents, which are necessary to adorn that high sta
tion in the church. They also perused it with no
less pleasure than satisfaction ; the result whereof
was, to make a compliment to the author from that
great and learned body ; and I was desired by the
bishop of Meaux, in a letter from his lordship, not
only to return Dr. Bull his humble thanks, but the
unfeigned congratulations of the whole clergy of
DR. GEORGE BULL. 329
France, assembled then at St. Germains, for the 1694.
orreat service he had done to the catholic church, in "
O
so well defending her determination of the necessity
of believing the divinity of the Son of God. The
letter which his lordship wrote to me upon that
occasion hath been already printed in the first
volume of Dr. Hickes's controversial letters * ; but I
believe it will not be thought improper to insert it
in Dr. Bull's Life, as a monument of that respect
which was paid to his writings, by so illustrious a
prelate as the bishop of Meaux, and by so learned a
body as the clergy of France.
A Monsieur Monsieur Nelson, a Blackheath.
+
A St. Germain en Laye, 24 Juil. 1700.
J'AY receu, Monsieur, depuis quinze jours uneThebp. of
lettre, dont vous m'honorez de Blackheath aupres J^" to"
de Londres, le 18 Juillet de 1'annee passee, en m'en- Mr- Nel.son
concerning
voyant un livre du Docteur Bullus, entitule, Jffrfi-Dr.Bull
cium EcclesitE Catliolicce, &c. Je vous dirai d'abord,
Monsieur, que je ressentis beaucoup de joie a la veue
de vostre ecriture et de vostre nom, et que je fus ravi
de cette marque de vostre souvenir. Quant a 1'ou-
vrage du Docteur Bullus, j'ay voulu le lire entier,
avant que de vous en accuser la reception ; afin de
vous en dire mon sentiment. II est admirable, et la
matiere qu'il traite ne pouvoit estre expliquee plus
savamment et plus a fond. C'est ce que je vous
supplie de vouloir bien luy faire savoir, et en mesme
temps les sinceres congratulations de tout le clerge
de France assemble en cette ville, pour le service
qu'il rend a 1'Eglise Catholique, en defendant si bien
* [Several letters which passed between Dr. George Hickes and
a popish priest. 2 vols. 1705. (see p. 225.)]
330 THE LIFE OF
1694. le jugement qu'elle a porte sur la necessite" de croire
~ la divinite du Fils de Dieu. Qu'il me soit permis de
luy dire qu'il me reste un seul sujet d'etonnement.
C'est qu'un si grand liomme qui parle si bien de
1'Eglise, du salut que Ton ne trouve qu'en son unite,
et de 1'assistance infaillible du St. Esprit dans le
Concile de Nicee, ce qui induit la mesme grace pour
tous les autres assemblez dans la mesme Eglise,
puisse demeurer un seul moment sans la reconnoistre.
Ou bien, Monsieur, qu'il daigne me dire comme a un
zele defenseur de la doctrine qu'il enseigne, ce que
c'est done qu'il entend par ce mot Eglise Catho-
liquef Estce 1'Eglise Romaine, et celles qui luy ad
herent ? Estce 1'Eglise Anglicane ? Estce un amas
confus de societez separees les unes des autres ? Et
comment peuvent elles estre ce royaume de J. C.
non divise en luy mesme, et qui aussi ne doit jamais
perir? Que je serai console d'avoir sur ce sujet un
mot de response, qui m'explique le sentiment d'uri
si grave auteur. Je suis tres aise, Monsieur, d'apren-
dre dans vostre lettre Fheureuse nouvelle de la sant^
de Madame vostre femme, que je recommande de
bon coeur a Dieu, avec vous et vostre famille. Ceux
qui vous ont raconte les rares talens de M. 1'Arche-
vesque de Paris, aujourd'hui le Cardinal de Noailles,
vous ont dit la verite" ; il y a long temps que la chaire
de St. Denis n'a este si dignement remplie. Si M.
Collier, dont vous me parlez, a fait quelque ecrit
Latin sur la nouvelle spiritual! te, vous m'obligerez
de me 1'envoyer. Mais sur tout n'oubliez jamais que
je suis avec beaucoup de sincerite,
Monsieur,
Vostre tres-humble, et
tres-obeissant serviteur,
+ J. BENIGNE, E. de Meaux.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 331
To Mr. Nelson, at Blachheath. 1694.
+
St. Germain en Laye, 24 July, 1700.
I RECEIVED, sir, about a fortnight ago, the ho
nour of your letter from Blackheath near London,
dated the 18th of July of the last year, when at the
same time you sent me Dr. Bull's book, entitled,
Judiciiim Ecclesice Catholicee, &c. I must first,
sir, acquaint you, that the sight of your hand and
name gave me a great deal of joy, and that I was
extremely pleased with this testimony of your re
membrance. As to Dr. Bull's performance, I was
willing to read it all over, before I acknowledged
the receipt of it, that I might be able to give you
my sense of it. It is admirable, and the matter he
treats could not be explained with greater learning
and greater judgment. This is what I desire you
would be pleased to acquaint him with, and at the
same time with the unfeigned congratulations of all
the clergy of France, assembled in this place, for the
service he does the catholic church, in so well de
fending her determination of the necessity of believ
ing the divinity of the Son of God. Give me leave
to acquaint him, there is one thing I wonder at,
which is, that so great a man, who speaks so ad
vantageously of the church, of salvation, which is
obtained only in unity with her, and of the infallible
assistance of the Holy Ghost in the council of Nice,
which infers the same assistance for all others as
sembled in the same church, can continue a moment
without acknowledging her. Or rather, sir, let him
vouchsafe to tell me, who am a zealous defender of
the doctrine he teaches, what it is he means by the
332 THE LIFE OF
1694. term catholic church f Is it the church of Rome,
and those that adhere to her? Is it the church of
England? Is it a confused heap of societies sepa
rated the one from the other? And how can they
be that kingdom of Christ not divided against it
self, and which never shall perish? It would be a
great satisfaction to me to receive some answer upon
this subject, that might explain the opinion of so
weighty and solid an author. I very much rejoice
at the good news you send me of your lady's wel
fare, whom I heartily pray for, with you and your
family. You have been rightly informed in the ac
count you have received of the admirable qualifica
tions of the archbishop of Paris, now cardinal de
Noailles ; the see of St. Denis has not for a long
time been so worthily filled. If Mr. Collier, whom
you mention, has written any thing in Latin con
cerning the modern mystical divinity, you will oblige
me in conveying it to me. But above all remember,
that I am with a great deal of sincerity,
Sir,
Your most humble and
most obedient servant,
+ J. BENIGNE, Bishop of Meaux.
By this letter the reader will perceive that the
bishop of Meaux proposed several queries to Dr.
Bull, in order to know the sentiments of so consi
derable a man upon those subjects, which the bishop
expected to receive with no small degree of satisfac
tion. But just as Dr. Bull's answer came to my
hands, I received the melancholy news of the bishop
of Meaux's death11, which prevented the progress of
u [He died j 2th April, 1 704.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 333
that controversy ; which we might have expected to 1694.
have seen carried on with great decency, and to very
good effect, by too such great men, though of dif
ferent communions, if the providence of God had
not put a stop to it, by taking the bishop out of the
world before Dr. Bull's letter was sent to himx.
LXIX. The last treatise which Dr. Bull wrote, Dr. Bull
was, y The Primitive and Apostolical Tradition o/his Pnmt-
the Doctrine received in the Catholic Church, con-tl^0^ical
cerninq the Diviniti/ of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Tradition,
& •? * &c. against
asserted and evidently demonstrated against Daniel 'Dr
rr • 7 771 • 77-7 f • ^
Zmcfcer the Prussian, ana his late followers in of
England ; which was published, when the rest ofs
our learned author's works were collected into one
volume, by the very learned and pious Dr. Grabe ;
of which there will be an account given in the
following part of this Life. Now, that the design
of our author may be the better understood in this
excellent piece, it will be necessary to give some
account of the person he writes against, and of the
scheme Dr. Zuicker formed, concerning our blessed
Saviour Jesus Christ. This Daniel Zuicker was born
at Dantzic, in the year 1612, and was bred to the
profession of physic, in which he took the degree of
a doctor. He was a person of a very inquisitive
genius, and of good natural parts, but somewhat
over bold ; not easily to be satisfied in his researches
x [The letter is published in the present edition of his works,
and is entitled, The Corruptions of the Church of Rome, &c.]
Y Primitiva et Apostolica Traditio Dogmatis in Ecclesia Catho-
lica recepti de Jesu Christi Servatoris nostri Divinitate ; asserta
atque evidenter demonstrata contra Danielem Zuickerum Borus-
sum, ejusque nuperos in Anglia sectatores. Lond. 1703.
334 THE LIFE OF
1694. after truth; and of great assiduity in his application
"to whatsoever parts of learning he set himself to
study.
Bred a LU- He was the first and most considerable of those
turns Uni- Unitarian writers, which have fallen under the ani
madversion of Dr. Bull ; for he was before Sandius,
and both Sandius and Mr. Gilbert Clerke have but
copied in a manner after this learned Dantzicker, as
also the rest have done, that have engaged on that
side of the controversy. zWhen he was between
the age of thirty and forty, he set himself to ex
amine into the pretensions of the several religions,
professed by those among whom he lived : and when
he was now seven and thirty years old, he wrote and
printed a dissertation by way of question, Whether
a Christian man were always obliged to learn and
enquire? And about half a year after that, a dis
course which he called, A short and true demon
stration when and where the Holy Scripture ought
to be properly and where figuratively explained
and understood. Both these were published by
him in the High Dutch, his own native language,
with the Rules and Confession of zealous Christ
ians. And when he was about forty years old, he
published, in the same tongue, an historical account
of the grounds of his quitting the opinion in which
he had been first educated ; for he had been bred a
Lutheran. But upon this change of his religion,
being obliged to leave his own country, he retired
into Holland for security and convenience ; where
he became acquainted with Curcellaeus, who hath
been already mentioned : and there is added to his
z Bibliotheca Anti-Trinitariorum. Sandius.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 335
famous Quaternio, a dissertation of this very Zuicker, l694-
but without his name, against Maresius, the great
enemy both of Curcellseus and Blondel. The title
of it is, Judicium de Johanna Papissa contra Ma-
resium ; in which he discovered a great fund of ec
clesiastical learning, with that sagacity and penetra
tion of judgment, which is required to make a critic.
At or about the same time, he printed at Amster
dam his &Irenicum Irenicorum, &c., or the Triple
Rule of the Reconciler of modern Christians ; the
first of which is here established to be the universal
reason of mankind, or sound sense ; the second, the
sacred Scriptures ; and the third, catholic tradition,
or testimonies of approved ecclesiastical writers.
This made the greatest noise of all his writings,
which were many, and drew several answers to it
from learned men. It was published without a
name : and the concealed author might not have
been discovered, but that Sandius, who personally
knew him, and was privy to the secret, resolved to
make the world acquainted with this piece of news,
so soon as it was safe to be done. The good Come-
nius, the last Bohemian bishop, was unhappily en
gaged in this controversy with Dr. Zuicker ; where
by the cause did suffer not a little. Zuicker did
unmercifully triumph over the honest old prelate,
under the name of Irenico-masticV . There are no
less than three several vindications of his Irenicum,
successively set forth by himself, against the attacks
of Comenius, Hoornbechius, and others. So that
there wanted still a solid confutation of this book,
a Irenicum Irenicorum, seu Reconciliatoris Christianorum Ho-
diernorum norma Triplex ; sana omnium hominum Ratio, Scrip-
tura Sacra, et Traditiones. Amsterd. 1658. 121110.
336 THE LIFE OF
1694. which had perverted many, and continued still to
do mischief; the arguments of it being translated
also, and new dressed up in our own tongue, that
the infection of it might spread here : upon which
Dr. Bull undertook this labour, and hath acquitted
himself to the satisfaction of all that are capable of
weighing without prejudice what he hath written.
This Dr. Zuicker hath published several other books,
both in Latin and in High and Low Dutch, upon
variety of subjects, but chiefly in defence of the
Unitarians. He died at Amsterdam in the year
1678, aged sixty-six years and ten months. Now
to say somewhat of his sentiments, and particularly
his Irenicum.
An account He pretended, that the simplicity of the Gospel
this doctor's of Christ, according as it was believed by the an-
Nazarens, was first corrupted by Simon Magus
and his disciples : that the most primitive Christ
ians, both Jewish and Gentile, believed in God the
Father, as in the one only true God ; and acknow
ledged not Jesus Christ in any other capacity, but
according to his human generation only, till Pla-
tonism and Gnosticism crept into the church : that
the disciples of this Simon first interpolated and
changed the sound doctrine about God and Christ,
which had been preached by the apostles of our
Lord ; and introduced another Christ, preexistent
to, and distinct from him that was born of the Vir
gin Mary : that the eternal and divine generation
of the Word was no better than a dream of the Si-
monians, destructive of the common notions of man
kind, and of the truth of the Gospel, as built upon
that man whom God hath anointed, and exalted to
be a Saviour : that the beginning at least of the
DR. GEORGE BULL. 837
Gospel ascribed to St. John was never written by 1694.
that apostle, but by some heretic out of the school ~
of Simon : that by the same Simonian heretics were
forged certain verses under the name of Orpheus,
making mention of the Voice or Word of the Fa
ther begotten by him before the world was created,
and whom he consulted in the creation thereof; and
that Justin Martyr, being imposed upon by these
pretended Orphaic verses, as if they had verily been
composed by Orpheus himself, and by him derived
from Moses, had thence taken up his opinion con
cerning the generation of Christ from God the Fa
ther, before the foundation of the world, as theMind,
the Voice, the Reason of the Father, to the end the
world might through his begotten Mind or Voice be
brought forth, and that this divine offspring might
descend to converse among men, and might at length
become himself also a man : that besides the early
perversion of the Gospel by the Simonian magic,
and by the forgery of the Orphaic and Sibylline
oracles, there were several other reasons that con
curred to induce Justin and his followers to embrace
so easily the opinion of the preexistence of Christ
and his generation before all worlds ; such as Jus
tin's acquaintance with and affection for the Pla
tonic philosophy, the memory of paganism not yet
obliterated, some traces particularly in the minds of
the Gentile converts, and prejudices in favour of the
commonly received scheme for a plurality of gods
not quite extinct ; the ordinary custom of deifying
great and extraordinary persons, and a sort of natu
ral reluctance in all to the worshipping of any one
who is no more than man. From all which he con
cluded, that the preexistence and divine generation
338 THE LIFE OF
1694- of our Saviour was unknown to the apostles; and
17°3' that it was an opinion which derived itself from
Simon Magus, but owed its growth and establish
ment to pagan philosophers embracing the Christian
religion, and blending their philosophy with it ; and
therefore he laboured to expose to the utmost con
tempt the greatest manb of his time among the
heathen converts to Christianity, and one whose pen
had served twice to stop the fury of two persecu
tions, by two famous Apologies which he wrote in
behalf of the Christians ; and to represent this very
person who was of so great eminence among the
primitive Christians and martyrs, and who lived in
communion with the disciples of the apostles, as the
principal corrupter of Christianity, and the intruder
of a new Christ and a new Gospel, because he hath
spoken so plainly of the preexistence and Godhead
of Christ. Wherein he hath been followed by the
author of the Judgment of the Fathers touching
the Trinity, who hath taken out of his quiver the
arrows which he hath shot against both the person
and the doctrine of this blessed martyr; and by
several others, who have written in defence of the
ancient heretics and heresies, thereby to overthrow
Dr. Bull's Defence of the Nicene Faith, and the
authority of his Ante-Nicene witnesses.
HOW Dr. LXX. No wonder therefore if Dr, Bull's zeal was
Bull was , . , , , . ,
moved to kindled against such writers as these, when he found,
gainstz'uic- wnat ne verily believed upon the strictest examina-
suchasV tion to be the tme apostolical and catholic faith, and
pied after the very pillar and foundation of the whole Gospel,
b [Justin Martyr.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 339
to be thus by them blasphemed: to see the most 1694-
primitive tradition of the purest ages of Christianity, I7°3'
concerning the divinity of the Logos, and the pre-
existent spiritual nature of Christ before his assump
tion of the servile form of flesh, to be represented as
no other than the very spawn of Simonianism and
Cerinthianism, or as a relict of pagan polytheism :
and to find those heretics who renounced the very
principles of Christianity, and denied the lawfulness
of calling upon Jesus Christ, confidently set up and
ranked among the primitive witnesses of the Gos
pel ; which some of them had never so much as
once embraced, being contented to live in the com
munion of the synagogue, and hold their Jewish
notions concerning the person of Christ ; and from
which others of them actually apostatized, denying
the Lord that bought them ; while at the same
time the most substantial and venerable evidences
of our holy faith are by pretended Christians set
aside, and loudly cried down for no better than im
postors and cheats ; and while even two out of three
of the heavenly witnesses themselves, that is, the
WORD and the SPIRIT, are placed by them in the
very same rank with those c Baalims which the ido
latrous Jews worshipped, together with the only true
God, soon after the decease of Joshua.
Such as these were the provocations which made
Dr. Bull so vehement in his charge against some of
the modern Arians, and Samosatenians, or Socinians,
as to give the former the name of AriomaniUs*,
or the bewitched Arians, and to the system of the
c Judgment of the Fathers, &c. p. 48, 49.
d [Dr. Bull did not invent this term : it is used by Athanasius
and Epiphanius.]
z 2
340 THE LIFE OF
1694- latter, that of the atheistical heresy ; at which the
!7°3- English Antitrinitarians, who about this time boast
ed very much of their strength and numbers, were so
desperately incensed against him, that eone in the
name of all the rest declared, that no respect or
tenderness ought to be shewn him by any Unita
rian. They accused him of mad fzeal and bigotry,
of supercilious malevolence and arrogance, yea, of
barbarities towards them ; they called him even an
Hildebrand, for his uncourtlike treating of them;
and for breaking the cartel, as they called it, of ho
nour and civility that was thought to be agreed and
established between persons of excellent learning or
great abilities, when they happen to be engaged on
contrary sides; they railed bitterly at him for his
shewing so very little deference to the merit of their
learning and penetration ; for his contempt of their
greatest champions, and for his exposing their argu
ments, as no better than mere sophistries, without
the least degree of pity; they upbraided him with
want of good manners ; and they imputed his writ
ing so warmly and heartily in defence of the Nicene
faith, either to his fear or to his ambition, or to
both, and not to any regard for the truth, or esteem
for primitive and genuine Christianity ; they pre
tended, that he was so apprehensive of the growing
interest of the Unitarians in this kingdom, as almost
to be afraid lest it might one day be strong enough
to turn him out of his parsonage or prebend ; and
that this was one principal motive of his appearing
e The Judgment of the Fathers concerning the Doctrine of the
Trinity, &c. Printed an. 1695.
f Considerations on the Explications of the Doctrine of the
Trinity, &c. 1694.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 841
so zealously against them, both from the pulpit and 1694-
the press : they insinuated also, that he intended I7°3'
by the books written against them, to recommend
himself to his superiors in the church, and merit
a bishopric or a deanery. I have not concealed any
part of their charge against this great man, or
covered over their suspicions of him, as if his good
name were any ways in danger hereby, or as if the
cause which he defended could be hurt by such a
method as this. No ; they are extremely mistaken
who think any such thing ; and the adversaries
themselves do in effect confess as much, while they
so violently exclaim against the appearance of it in
another ; and it is much more probable, that Dr.
Bull's labours in vindication of the true apostolical
faith must needs have done much good in the world,
since these gentlemen were so exasperated against
them and their author.
Upon the occasion of these extravagant positions The sub-
of Dr. Zuicker, and of others who had copied after Dr'/Buii's
him, in fiercely opposing the catholic tradition of the ^7/^
preexistence and divine nature of our Lord, D
'
. Tradition,
drew up the Primitive and Apostolic Tradition, &c., &c., against
which we have already mentioned; and I think a and others.
clear demonstration will here be found, that Justin
Martyr is not, as is pretended, an innovator of the
Christian faith, in the article concerning the person
of Christ ; that he was not deceived herein by the
frauds and artifices of the disciples of Simon Magus ;
that he never learnt from the school of Plato, what
he delivered concerning the Logos ; and that he
was far from any design of intermixing polytheism
with Christianity, or for accommodating the Gospel
of Christ to the Gentile theology : but that, on the
342 THE LIFE OF
1694- contrary, it was an apostolical tradition derived from
I7°3' the first Christian churches, that our Saviour did
exist before the world was made ; and that the
world was made by him ; that the doctrine of his
Godhead and incarnation could not come forth from
the school of that sorcerer Simon, whose sentiments
very widely differed from the catholic tradition of
that doctrine ; and that it was impossible to have
been derived either from the Platonic philosophers
or any philosophical economy, or condescension to
such, whom the Christians had a mind to win over to
them. Here is also a particular and most accurate
account given of Hegesippus, and of his sentiments
concerning Christ's person, against the allegations
of some modern writers amongst us, in opposition
to the catholic faith : as likewise of the primitive
Nazarens, and of the first bishops of Jerusalem,
challenged as theirs by Dr. Zuicker's English dis
ciples. The reader will, besides, be here entertained
with a good deal of curious and useful learning,
about the Sibylline oracles and the verses of Or
pheus, which are cited by sveeral of the primitive
writers against the heathens. In short, the whole
weight of the controversy is here brought into a
small compass ; the enemies are disarmed of their
strongest weapons ; and the matter is decided for
the catholics, with as much perspicuity and solidity
as can be desired.
D!7°3; LXXI. In the year 1703, Dr. Bull's Latin works,
Latin which had been published by himself at several times,
k»ted into ail(^ upon different occasions, as hath been already
one^oiume related, were collected together into one volume in
Grabe. folio ; and printed by Mr. Richard Smith, bookseller
DR. GEORGE BULL. 343
in London. Dr. Bull being now advanced in years, 1703-5.
and oppressed with the load of many infirmities, the"
revising and correcting this impression was volun
tarily undertaken by his particular friend, as well as
mine, that truly great man, Dr. John Ernest Grabe,
who adorned and perfected this new edition with
his own many learned annotations, and introduced
it into the world with an admirable preface, which
did great justice to our excellent author, as well as
to his learned and judicious writings s. And it will
appear by a letter of Dr. Bull's, which the reader
will meet with in the following sheets11, that lie
had a very grateful sense of this great favour of
Dr. Grabe's, though he was not able to requite it.
But who can mention Dr. Grabe without a deep Dr. G
and particular concern for the loss of so great a man,
in the very prime of his age, when we expected to
reap the fruit of his indefatigable studies, which
were chiefly conversant about Christian antiquities ;
and who by an eminent author is very aptly com
pared * " to a great and mighty prince, who dying,
" leaves behind him many plans of noble and curious
" buildings ; foundations of others ; others erected
" above ground ; some half, others almost, and others
" perfectly finished. Such are the remains left us
g [In 1721 Bowyer reprinted Grabe's edition of the Latin works
of Bull, with the addition of Breves Animadversiones in Tractatum
Gilberti Clerke, which Nelson had published. He is said to have
lost 2ool. by the speculation. Nichols's Anecdotes, vol.i. p. 208-9.]
h [In §.LXXXII.]
i Dr. Hickes's Discourse concerning Dr. Grabe and his manu
scripts, premised to, Some Instances of the Defects and Omissions of
Mr. Whistons Collections, by Dr. Grabe. Printed by H.Clements,
1712.
344 THE LIFE OF
1703-5. " by this great master-builder, as may appear by the
~ " catalogue of his manuscripts."
All the learned, who could best judge of his great
talents, readily offer him that incense of praise, which
is justly due to his profound erudition ; whereby he
was qualified to enlighten the dark and obscure parts
of ecclesiastical history, to trace the original frame
and state of the Christian church, and to restore the
sacred volumes, the pillars of our faith, to their pri
mitive perfection.
He had so great a zeal for promoting the ancient
government and discipline of the church, among all
those who had separated themselves from the corrup
tions and superstitions of the church of Rome, that
he formed a plan, and made some advances in it, for
restoring the episcopal order and office in the terri
tories of the king of Prussia his sovereign ; and pro
posed, moreover, to introduce a Liturgy, much after
the model of the English service, into that king's
dominions ; and recommended likewise the use of
the English Liturgy itself, by the means of some of
his friends, to a certain neighbouring court. By
which means he would have united the two main
bodies of protestants, in a more perfect and aposto
lical reformation, than that upon which either of
them did yet stand, and would thereby have for
tified the common cause of their protestation against
the errors of popery. But yet his learned studies
did not so engross his mind, as to prevent his daily
attending the hours of public prayer, to which pur
pose he always chose his lodgings near a church :
neither did the applause he received from the great
est men of the age so exalt him, but that he readily
DR. GEORGE BULL. 345
condescended to converse with those of the lowest 1 703-5.
understanding, when he could be any ways service- ~
able to them in their spiritual concerns.
He was justly esteemed one of the greatest di
vines of the age ; yet the great modesty of his tem
per, and the profound humility of his mind, made
him prefer others before himself. He laid the chief-
est stress upon the constant practice of the virtues
of the Christian life, and was also a strict observer
of all the rules of the apostolical times, and of the
catholic usages of the first Christians. He bore his
last sickness, which deprived the world of so great
a treasure, with most exemplary patience, and sub
mission to the will of God ; and exercised all those
acts of devotion, which the best of men are zealously
intent upon in their last labours for immortality.
He was very severe upon himself, even for those
common human frailties which are apt to cleave
to those of the greatest eminence for their sanctity,
and, with true compunction, bewailed the neglects
and omissions of his duty, which from the unseason
able resort of company he sometimes was forced to.
And yet he thanked God from the bottom of his
heart, that through the assistance of his grace, he
had so far overcome those temptations which he
had met with in life, that he never prostituted his
conscience for the sake of gain, or defiled his body,
which he always had kept pure from the mortal sin
of uncleanness. He had constantly every day, and
frequently several times in the day, the office of the
Visitation of the Sick, with some proper collects of
his own choosing, used by his bedside, and he com
monly desired the imposition of the priest's hands,
when the absolution or blessing was pronounced
346 THE LIFE OF
1703-5. over him. He received the communion of our
" Lord's body and blood with great devotion several
times during his severe visitation, to fortify him in
his passage to eternity ; and was at last set at liberty
from the bondage of his mortal body, upon the 3d
of November, 1711, in the 46th year of his age.
The occasion of his death was a bruise which he
got in his side, at the place of his liver, when he
made his last journey to Oxford in the stage coach,
in prosecuting the noble work he had in hand ;
which accident, being neglected at first, upon his
return to London became thus fatal.
He was buried a few days after, according to his
order, in the parish church of St. Pancras, near
London, by his much valued friend the Rev. Dr.
Smalridge, dean of Carlisle, who hath that justice
paid to his merit, that he is the great favourite of
all learned and good men throughout the nation.
And it must be acknowledged, to the honour of the
present vicar of St. Pancras, the Rev. Mr. Nathaniel
Marshal, that he refused those fees which were due
for burying in the chancel, and which are there
very considerable, purely out of respect to the great
character of the person who was interred.
supported There is one circumstance which related to this
in his sick- .
ness by the excellent man, which must not be omitted, because
e™ it tended so much to alleviate the burden of his
ofOxfm-d ^ast sickness ; and for which he was very thankful
and Morti- to God, and his generous benefactor. The present
lord high treasurer, earl of Oxford and Mortimer,
that great patron of learning and learned men, was
in a particular manner a Maecenas to Dr. Grabe ;
and during his lifetime encouraged his great work
of publishing the Alexandrian copy of the Septua-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 347
gint, not only by generously contributing to it him- i7°3-5-
self, but by procuring for the doctor a large propor
tion of the royal bounty ; and when the doctor in
his sickness applied to his lordship for that part of
his annual pension which was due to him, and had
been constantly paid him, his lordship not only gra
tified him in what he desired, but to shew his great
value and esteem of the doctor, and for fear so
great a man should want any necessary comfort
from the things of this world in such a gloomy sea
son, my lord sent him a supply of fifty pounds from
his own bounty. An action for which his lordship
had the repeated prayers of a dying saint, and for
which all learned and good men must praise him,
and which will be a comfortable part of that strict
account which he must give at the great tribunal.
And I have farther reason to believe, that his lord
ship designs to have a CENOTAPHIUM erected in
St. Paul's, or St. Peter's at Westminster, to perpe
tuate the memory of so much piety and so much
learning, which seldom meet together in such great
perfection as they did in Dr. Grabek.
LXXII. In February 170^, Dr. Bull was made '7°5-
Dr. Bull
acquainted with her majesty's gracious intentions promoted to
of conferring upon him the bishopric of St. David's1, r
David's.
k [The earl of Oxford erected a monument to him in West
minster-abbey.]
1 [The see had been vacant five years and eight months since
the deprivation of Thomas Watson, the last bishop, in 1699,
upon a charge of simony. Dr. Bull was recommended to the
queen by archbishop Tenison : but it is said in the life of Arch
bishop Sharp, that " though the archbishop of Canterbury seemed
" to claim the merit, yet the queen told the archbishop of York,
348 THE LIFE OF
1705. the news whereof he received with great surprise,
~and with no less concern. And considering the
great weight of that high station in the church, and
how much work is required to a conscientious dis
charge of that administration ; and withal, the ill
state of health under which he then laboured, and
the evening of life, to which he was now arrived,
being in the 71st year of his age, I do not wonder
that he did at first decline engaging in that impor
tant office. It is not without reason, that persons
of the strongest virtue, in the vigour of their days,
who best deserve the most honourable employments
in the church, have been most afraid of being ad
vanced to them : it requireth great firmness of mind,
not to be dazzled with that honour which adorneth
the episcopal throne ; and how difficult is it to be
exalted, and not to love the preeminence ! The
respect and obsequiousness of inferiors insensibly
corrupt the mind, and when men are placed above
reproof, they quickly begin to persuade themselves
that they do not stand in need of it. What courage
and prudence is necessary to oppose vice, when it is
countenanced by persons of figure and quality !
What poverty of spirit, to sit loose to the world in
the midst of the greatest affluence ! What heavenly-
mindedness, to negociate the greatest temporal affairs
" (Sharp,) that she would not have done it, but for the great
" character he had given her before of this Dr. Bull. He indeed
" did not rightly approve of this promotion, on account of the
" doctor's great age. He thought his merit should have been
" rewarded some other way ; and as it was a reflexion on the
" government, that a man of such worth should not be earlier
" preferred, so it might prove a detriment to the church, that he
" was preferred so late." p. 337.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 349
with the indifferency of a traveller, who seeketh a 1705.
better country ! What perfection of piety, to be
ready to sacrifice fame and reputation, nay, even
life itself, to conscience and duty ; and to contemn
the favour of the greatest upon earth, when the
honour of God, the rights of the church, and the
good of souls, are laid in the balance ! But though
Dr. Bull was very unwilling, for the reasons I have
already mentioned, to enter into the episcopal col
lege ; yet being importuned by his friends, who un
derstood the distressed state and condition of his
family; and what most prevailed, being earnestly
solicited by several of the governors of the church,
which he looked upon as the call of Providence, he
was at last prevailed upon to accept of that elevated
station which he never sought. And therefore might
humbly hope, that God, who had called him from
the care of a parish to the government of a dio
cese, would enable him by his Holy Spirit to dis
charge the several duties which belonged to it ; and
that He who laid the burden upon him, would
strengthen him under it ; and it is certain, that
God proportioneth his gifts to the wants of those
who depend upon him ; and the distributions of
grace are larger, as his wise providence maketh
them necessary.
But however difficult the employment might prove
to Dr. Bull, in the decline of his strength and vigour,
it certainly concerned the honour of the nation, riot
to suffer a person to die in an obscure retirement,
who upon the account of his learned performances
had sinned with so much lustre in a neighbouring-
nation, where he had received the united thanks of
her bishops, for the great service he had done to
350 THE LIFE OF
,7oS. the cause of Christianity. Accordingly he was con-
~~ secrated bishop of St. David's, in Lambeth chapel,
the m29tli of April, 1705; upon which occasion
there was a very good sermon preached by the
present rector of St. Peter's, Cornhill, Dr. Waugh ;
wherein he shewed, with great evidence of Scrip
ture, what kind of rulers preside over the Christian
church; with what power they are invested, and
wherein that obedience and submission consisteth
which is due to them ; and all this was urged from
those remarkable words of the apostle to the He
brews, chap. xiii. 17. Obey them that have the
rule over you, and submit yourselves. This worthy
clergyman succeeded bishop Beveridge in the care
of that parish, and among his other excellencies it
may be mentioned with honour, that he treadeth in
the steps of that pious prelate in the government
of it ; and that congregation continueth still dis
tinguished, as exemplary for devotion in the city of
London.
St. David's The bishopric of St. David's, which was now con-
oii- ferred upon Dr. Bull, was formerly a metropolitan
tan see. gee jn ^Q gritish church, and the bishop hereof
continued a long time the supreme ordinary of the
Welsh. About the year 519, it was removed hither
from Caer-Leon upon Usk. as a proper shelter from
the fury of the Saxons. The place at that time was
called by the Welsh, Menew, but afterwards, in
memory of David, the archbishop, who so translated
it, St. David's ; but it is from the first name that
the bishops of this diocese are in Latin styled Mene-
venses. Now as to these bishops of St. David's, we
find that twenty-seven of them retained the title of
m [Browne Willis says the 25th.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. '351
archbishops: the last whereof was Sampson, who, in 1705.
a time of pestilence, transferred the archiepiscopal ~
dignity to Dole in Bretagne. Yet his successors,
though they lost the name, preserved the power of
an archbishop ; nor did the residue of the Welsh
bishops receive their consecration from any other
hand but his, until the reign of Henry I. who, upon
subduing the country, forced the Welsh churches, in
the time of Bernard, the forty-seventh bishop of this
see, to submit to the see of Canterbury.
The diocese containeth the whole counties of Pem
broke, Cardigan, Caermartheri, Radnor, and Breck
nock, with some small part of Monmouth, Hereford,
Montgomery, and Glamorganshires ; the parishes
under this jurisdiction amount to about 308, of
which 120 are accounted impropriations ; besides
several subordinate chapels, which have been built
in several parishes for the ease of the people ; the
whole diocese is governed, under the bishop, by four
archdeacons, with the title of Cardigan, Caermarthen,
Brecknock, and St. David's.
There was one circumstance which supported He buries
bishop Bull, under the sense of his inability to dis- George
charge the episcopal function, and which had a^j""^™1
great influence upon him, in the determining him to6*?601**1
assistance.
accept it ; and that was, the assistance he expected
from his eldest son, Mr. George Bull, a clergyman,
in the very flower of his age, being then about five
and thirty. He was a person truly sober and reli-Mr. BniPs
gious, as well as learned and understanding in his01
own profession. He had spent seventeen years at
Christ Church in Oxford n, and was esteemed one of
n [He was admitted a commoner March 13, 1686. and elected
student, July ir, 1687.]
352 THE LIFE OF
1705. the ornaments of that society, where all polite and
solid learning hath been used to flourish in per
fection. In this place, he was not only formed him
self to piety and learning, but as a tutor he had
formed others to the same valuable qualifications;
and with diligence and success had cultivated the
minds of several gentlemen, and had regulated their
manners. The sense of this obligation made so
strong an impression upon one of his pupils, the
worthy sir Bourchier Wrey, baronet, that he became
Mr. Bull's patron, and preferred him to the rectory
of Tawstock in Devonshire, after he had laboured
some years in doing good by his preaching in the
neighbourhood of Oxford ; and not long after, upon
the promotion of his father, by the grace and favour
of the queen, he was in his room made archdeacon
of Landaff °. But, alas ! the reasonable expectation
his lordship had from this his excellent son quickly
vanished, for in two years time, being in London
with his father, he was attacked by the smallpox,
which he received as a dispensation from the hand
of God, with a composed mind, entirely resigned to
his holy will; and having fortified himself with his
viaticum, the holy eucharist, and having commended
himself into the hands of the blessed Jesus, with a
firm hope of immortal life, promised by him, and
purchased by his merits, he did with great quietness
of mind expect the approach of death ; which put an
end to his days the llth of May, 1707, in the 37th
0 [The bishop also resigned to him his prebendal stall at Glou
cester Dec. 27, 1705, though in April of the same year he had
obtained permission to hold this prebend in commendam during
his life, on account of the small income of his see. See Rankin's
Translation of the Judicium, p. 3 1 i .]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 358
year of his age, to the great grief of his tender pa- 1705.
rents, and dear friends, and of all good and learned ~~
men who were happy in his acquaintance. His na
tural judgment was strong, and his apprehension
quick, and his learning worthy of that society where
he was educated ; but he chiefly excelled in piety
and holiness of life, which was crowned and com
pleted with singular modesty and Christian humility,
which in the sight of God is of great price.
A specimen of this his great modesty and humility Atestimony
I am able to give the reader, in the beginning of auty, inT"
letter which he writ to me, ten years before h
death, the occasion whereof was this. Having been
obliged to apply to him for his assistance, in a con
cern which I had at the university of Oxford, I took
notice of the pleasure and satisfaction I received
from his good character, which had been confirmed
to me by several of his acquaintance ; to which he
was pleased to make the following reply.
Oxon. Ch. Ch. July 27, 1697.
SIR,
YOU were pleased to favour me with an unex
pected letter ; and therein to signify to me the good
character those of this place you have met with give
of me. I find common fame, how uncharitable so
ever it is to others, has been too kind to me, in as
cribing to me, what I must confess to you, I do not
deserve : which convinces me, that a very little
thing is sufficient to bring a man into the good, as
well as the ill opinion of others. But every man
that can think impartially is his own best judge in
this case. And therefore I hope I may say, that I
A a
354 THE LIFE OF
1705. know myself so well, as to see the opinion others
"have of me to be a thing that tells me, not what I
am, but what I ought to be. Indeed I acknowledge
to you, (and I think myself obliged so to do,) that I
am a servant of the great God, though but a weak
and imperfect one. As for other things, I must tell
you, (and I am not ashamed to own it,) that my im
provements here in the university have been as mean,
as my education was before I came hither : pardon
me, sir, for thus taking notice of the beginning of
your letter, for I could not restrain myself from it ;
because you are not the first by many, that intimated
to me how well others speak of me. And I look
upon it as a special providence of God in bringing
these things to my hearing, to mortify me for what
I really am, and to stir me up to endeavour to be
what I am not. But enough of this, sir, and I tell it
only to you, knowing to whom I write. For perhaps
to some, such a letter might render me ridiculous.
Now for a person to have Mr. Bull's acquirements
of learning and piety, with so mean an opinion of
them himself, will be thought by all good Christians
to be no small degree of the most valuable virtue of
humility. The loss of so good a son was a very great
affliction to the good old bishop, and the greater,
from those circumstances of life in which he was
then engaged ; but yet through the assistance of
God's grace, he did not sink under it, his heart was
fixed, trusting in the Lord.
He takes The bishop took his seat in the house of lords in
his seat in . . .
the house a most critical conjuncture, even in that memorable
the°timeaof session, when the bill for uniting both kingdoms
the union.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 355
passed into a law; and when not a few were in the >7°5-
greatest apprehensions concerning our church, and
were for considering thence the best methods of se
curing it to posterity, together with the union.
Wherefore upon a debate in the house, in relation to
the said bill, a certain noble lord, of a very eminent
character, moved in a speech, that since the parlia
ment of Scotland had given a character of their
church, by extolling the purity of its worship, their
lordships should not be behindhand in giving a cha
racter of the best constituted church in the world.
For, saith he, (turning himself towards the bench of
bishops,) my lords, I have been always taught by my
lords the bishops from my youth, that the Church
of England is the best constituted church in the
world, and most agreeable to the apostolical insti
tution. Upon which, bishop Bull, who sate very
near his lordship, apprehending how upon such an
appeal to the bishops, it was necessary for them to
say something, stood up and said ; " My lords, I do
" second what that noble lord hath moved, and do
" think it highly reasonable, that in this bill a cha-
" racter should be given of our most excellent
" church. For, my lords, whosoever is skilled in
" primitive antiquity, must allow it for a certain and
" evident truth, that the Church of England is, in
" her doctrine, discipline, and worship, most agree-
" able to the primitive and apostolical institution."
The bishop of St. David's coming out of the house,
bishop Beveridge and another bishop thanked his
lordship for his excellent speech; and said bishop
Beveridge, My lord, if you and I had the penning
of the bill, it should be in the manner your lord
ship hath moved. LTpon which bishop Bull made
A a 2
356 THE LIFE OF
1705. such a reply, as represented the necessity he lay
~~ under of thus discharging his duty, when so solemnly
called upon in the greatest court of the nation : and
it is certainly at all times the indispensable obligation
of all the bishops and pastors of the church, to
behave themselves with an holy boldness and un
daunted resolution, in the affairs of God and reli
gion, without being awed or biassed by the torrent
of the times, or made sordidly to crouch to a pre
vailing power of worldly politicians, who are for
carrying on their own sinister designs at any rate,
though always under the most specious pretexts.
LXXIII. About July after his lordship was con-
ter hisycon- secratecl, he went into his diocese ; being resolved to
TeTi'n'to' empl°y the remainder of his strength and vigour in
his diocese, that service of his Master, the great Bishop of souls,
to which he was now called. He was received by
the gentry and clergy with all imaginable demon
strations of respect, which increased in proportion as
they grew more intimately acquainted with his solid
worth. The episcopal palace at Aberguilly being
much out of repair, he made choice of Brecknock
for the place of his residence, being the chief town
in the county of that name, placed almost in the
centre thereof. Here king Henry the Eighth con
stituted a collegiate church, consisting of two and
twenty prebendaries, which he translated to this
place, from Aberguilly in Caermarthenshire : this
town abounded with great numbers of poor people,
who looked upon the good bishop as a guardian
angel, sent to comfort and relieve them under their
pressing wants and necessities. And herein they
were not mistaken, as will appear by what shall be
DR. GEORGE BULL. 357
related in reference to that subject, when the bishop 1705.
removed from thence to another seat in his diocese.
When he was settled at this place, his first care was
to apply himself to understand the state and con
dition of that district, which was committed to his
care. Now in order to this purpose, he designed
that summer to visit his diocese himself in person ;
and did begin at Brecknock, where he delivered his
charge to the clergy, consisting in an earnest and
pathetical exhortation, wherein he stirred them up,
by way of remembrance, to a steady and vigorous
prosecution of the duties of their sacred function.
But it pleased God to prevent the farther execution
of his good purposes, by sending him a severe illness,
which put an end to his progress at that time. But
still, that he might not want that information, which
was necessary to enable him to rectify any thing
which was amiss under his government, he com
mitted this trust to several commissioners, of which
the chief was Mr. William Powel, rector of Langat-
tock, and prebendary of Brecknock, with others the
most considerable clergymen in the several deaneries.
By which means he was better able to judge where
his authority and power was most wanting to reform
any prevailing abuses ; and what measures might be
taken to remedy them.
And because it may be proper to finish this head 1708.
of his visitations under this article, I must acquaint app^'tVa1*
the reader, that three years after this his lordship Ration i>
appointed a triennial visitation ; but not being able, co
. .
through weakness and continued indispositions, to
bear the fatigue of travelling, he constituted his wor
thy son-in-law, Mr. Stevens, the present archdeacon
of Brecknock, and residentiary canon of St. David's,
358 THE LIFE OF
1708. with Mr. William Powel before-mentioned, to be
his commissioners, to visit in his stead. Mr. Stevens
delivered the charge, which the bishop had prepared,
under the hopes of appearing himself in all the parts
of his diocese.
The sum of The sum whereof was, to set before his clergy
pre^dPby the principal parts and branches of their pastoral
the bishop. Ofgce> wjth rules and directions for the most suc
cessful manner of performing them. The main duties
of their function he maketh to consist in reading the
prayers of the church, in preaching, in catechising,
in administering the holy sacraments, and in visiting
the sick. And as to the manner of performing the
principal parts of their office, the directions he giv-
eth are these. To read divine service audibly, that
all who are present may join in it; distinctly and
leisurely, that they may not outrun the attention
and devotion of the people ; and with great reve
rence and devotion, so as to kindle pious affections
in the congregation. For thus, he saith, the prayers
of the church are to be. read, both in order to keep
up the reputation of them, and to render them use
ful to the people. To qualify them for preaching,
he pressed the knowledge and understanding of the
holy Scriptures ; and in order thereunto, some skill
in the learned languages, with good judgment and
discretion, and not without a tolerable share of elo
cution. He advised young divines not to trust at
first to their own compositions, but to furnish them
selves with a provision of the best sermons, which
the learned divines of our church have published ;
that by reading them often, and by endeavouring to
imitate them, they may acquire a habit of good
preaching themselves. And Avhere, through poverty,
DR. GEORGE BULL. 359
or any other impediment, ministers are incapable of 1708.
discharging this duty as they ought, he directed
them to use the Homilies of the church, and some
times to read a chapter to the people, out of that
excellent book, called The whole Duty of Man.
As to catechising, he just hints at the necessity arid
usefulness of it ; and required the churchwardens
to present the neglect of it, that he might by his
authority rectify it. As to the administration of the
holy sacraments, he enjoined them to perform bap
tism in public, and chiefly on Sundays and holy-
days, when the assemblies of Christians are fullest;
and in order to reform the abuses of that kind, he
resolved to exert his episcopal power. He exhorted
to great reverence and solemnity in officiating at the
altar, and to the observation of every punctilio, ac
cording to the rubrics compiled for that purpose;
and especially to take care not to administer the
holy sacrament of the Lord's supper to persons
known to be vicious and scandalous. As to visiting
the sick, the parochial priest is directed to go with
out being sent for, when he hears any of his pa
rishioners are under the afflicting hand of God, and
to perform the duty, according to the rules pre
scribed by the church ; from whence also he took
occasion to press the parochial clergy to acquaint
themselves with their flock, when they are in health,
in order to promote the great end of their own func
tion, the salvation of souls. He concluded what he
had to say to the clergy, in a serious exhortation to
them to become examples to their people of eminent
piety and holiness, which they are obliged to, not
only as Christians, but as priests of the living God ;
and farther, to be diligent in the business of their
360 THE LIFE OF
1 708. holy function ; the importance whereof was too great
~to admit the least indulgence to sloth and idleness.
And lastly, he persuaded them to the frequent use
of private prayer, which is necessary for their own
direction, as well as to set forward the salvation of
those souls which are committed to their inspection.
He ends his charge with a word to the laity, that
they would be persuaded to respect their pastors for
the Lord's sake, and to throw a veil over those per
sonal defects, which were in common to them with
the rest of mankind ; and moreover, that they would
be strictly just in paying them their dues ; that the
little they have they may have in quiet. He con
cluded the whole, in putting churchwardens in
mind of not perjuring themselves for fear or favour ;
but to be honest, and present matters according to
the best of their skill and knowledge. But a fuller
account of this charge the reader will find among
his discourses, which are now published, where it is
printed at large.
The bishop LXXI V. It was matter of great grief to the good
confirms in •«• -i J.I.LI ,1 -i /• i .
Severai bishop, that by the decay of his strength, and by his
frequent indispositions, he was prevented from tra
velling over his diocese, in order to administer in all
the parts of it that holy apostolical rite grounded
upon Scripture, as expounded by catholic tradition,
which for some time hath been known and distin
guished in the church by the name of confirma
tion; and which in the primitive times was more
frequently called, obsignation and unction, from the
sacred chrism, wherewith the persons confirmed were
wont to be anointed by the bishop, and which, with
the imposition of hands, was the symbol of con-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 361
ferring the baptismal spirit. The great usefulness 1708.
of this holy institution, is manifest from the many
benefits which attend it ; for hereby persons already
baptized receive an increase of divine grace, and
larger measures of spiritual strength are conferred
to enable them to discharge their baptismal engage
ments, and to carry them to higher degrees of im
provement in all Christian virtues. But though he
was thus hindered from administering this holy rite
of confirmation throughout his large diocese, yet
where he resided, and in the neighbourhood of such
places, he was not wanting in affording opportunities
of receiving it, to all such as were disposed to em
brace them ; and therefore he confirmed at Breck
nock, Caermarthen, Landeilo, Abermarless, as often
as there was occasion.
The September after the bishop came into his The care he
. T . . i took in or-
diocese, he had a public ordination; and the samedaining
,. t i • i i A. j_i deacons and
time every year was by him employed after the same pl.iests.
manner. After the other ember seasons he ordained
but a small number, more or less, as occasion re
quired. The warning St. Paul gave to Timothy, to
lay hands suddenly on no man, is not only of the
highest importance to the governors of the church,
who are entrusted with the power of constituting
officers for the service of it ; but is also of the great
est consequence to the whole body in general, who
are the subjects upon whom that power and au
thority is exercised. It is certain, that bishops must
answer at the day of judgment for any neglect they
shall be guilty of, in admitting persons not duly
qualified for the sacred function ; which made St.
Chrysostom think, that of all men, bishops would
have the greatest account to give at the dreadful
362 THE LIFE OF
7°8. tribunal, and would find the greatest difficulty in
working out their salvation. But it is not less cer
tain, that the church, the body of Christ, receiveth
the most mortal wounds from her own sons, and
that she hath suffered more from the ambition and
pride, the luxury and covetousness, and temporizing
of bad priests, than even from the persecution of
tyrants themselves. So that it is no wonder if a
bishop, rightly disposed to discharge that important
trust committed to his management, is under no
little concern, when he admitteth candidates to
holy orders.
The man- The first thing therefore that bishop Bull required
shop Bull's of such candidates was, that they should make their
Persona^ appearance before him at least a month be-
^ore Ordination Sunday. At such their appearance,
they produced their testimonials and titles, and were
examined by one of his chaplains, and also by him
self, as often as the state of his health would permit.
The design of this examination was to judge of their
sufficiency, as to their knowledge and capacity, for
the weighty business in which they solicited to en
gage. This method he so strictly insisted upon, that
he refused several, for appearing later than the time
prescribed, without admitting them to examination.
Now what the bishop chiefly proposed, by requiring
this early appearance, was, that he might have suf
ficient time to inquire into the characters of the can
didates, and into the characters of those who had
subscribed their testimonials ; as likewise into the
circumstances of such persons, from whom they had
their titles. Upon the last subject, the matter of his
inquiries was, whether they who gave the title had
really an occasion for a curate; and whether the
DR. GEORGE BULL. 363
benefice or benefices they enjoyed could maintain an 1708.
incumbent and a curate, allowing the latter a com-
petent salary. And finding that the allowances
which some incumbents gave, under the general
terms of a competent salary, which are the words
commonly made use of in forms of titles, were not
always a sufficient maintenance, nor bore any pro
portion to what the benefice could afford, he made
it a rule, not to admit of any title which ran only
in such general terms, but required that the very
sum they designed to allow should be expressly
mentioned in the body of the title.
Besides the trial he made of their attainments as
scholars, he would ask many questions, in order to
discover whether they could give a good account of
their faith, and to find out the inward temper and
complexion of their souls ; whether they had a true
sense of religion upon their minds, and whether they
were inwardly moved to undertake that most diffi
cult, as well as desirable employment. At the same
time, he laid before them the nature, dignity, and
importance of that holy function to which they were
to be admitted ; and gave them directions how to
prepare themselves for the receiving their spiritual
powers, especially in the time that intervened be
tween their appearance and their solemn admission.
He usually exhorted them to spend a large part of
that season in fasting and prayer, because the high
est pitch of human learning is very ineffectual to
cure the diseases of the mind, without the assistance
of God's grace ; and there is no depending upon the
greatest abilities for this work, except they are sup
ported by help from above. He particularly recom
mended to the candidates a frequent and serious
364 THE LIFE OF
1 708. perusal of the whole office of Ordination, but especially
~ the questions and answers ; upon each of which he
desired them to dwell for some time, in order to give
themselves leisure to examine their own dispositions,
and to form sincere and vigorous resolutions faith
fully to discharge those several duties of their func
tion which they were obliged to undertake, and that
in so solemn a mariner, upon their admission to it.
He took this occasion also to explain to them that
were entering into the order of deacons, the mean
ing of that question in the office of ordaining them,
Do you trust that you are inwardly called by the
Holy Ghost to take upon you this office and mini
stration? His discourse to them upon this subject
led him to inform them, how far, and in what de
gree, the prospect of getting a livelihood or main
tenance by that profession may be allowed to be a
justifiable motive of undertaking it.
Hisexhor. After they were ordained, and had received their
thereafter instruments, the bishop dismissed them with an
ordination. earnest and affectionate exhortation, to be diligent
in their studies, sober and exemplary in their lives
and conversations, and careful and conscientious in
the discharge of the duties of their sacred function,
in those places where by their titles they were to be
employed ; charging them to make it their chief
business and endeavour to answer the end of their
profession, by being useful in it, and to employ their
care and time rather to deserve than seek prefer
ment. He endeavoured to persuade them, that,
generally speaking, the most certain, as well as the
most primitive method of advancing themselves, was
to be diligent and studious in their present station,
and quietly to continue in it for some time, till their
DR. GEORGE BULL. 365
own merits should raise them to a better post in
the church ; and not to be over forward in making
application themselves, or to solicit the interest
and application of friends in their behalf, which are
sometimes so many and so pressing, that they put
a conscientious and good-natured patron under a
great deal of difficulty and uneasiness ; and upon
occasions of that nature, bishop Bull would lament
that he had any preferments in his gift. He was
much troubled when he was under a necessity of
ordaining persons who were but meanly qualified,
which could not be avoided sometimes in that
country, where the clergy are so meanly provided
for ; when he had admitted persons into orders of
a more liberal education, and of some sufficiency as
to their fortunes, he advised and recommended the
reading the Fathers of the church, next to the holy
Scriptures, at least those of the three first centuries.
This degree of skill and acquaintance with primitive
antiquity he looked upon, not only as useful, but
absolutely necessary, to support the character of a
priest, whose lips are to preserve knowledge. These
books, he said, he recommended to their diligent and
serious perusal, not only to inform their judgment,
but to influence their practice ; since they had a
great tendency to refine their morals, and raise their
affections to heavenly things ; being writ with such
a lively spirit of piety and devotion, as is not to be
met with in the writings of later centuries.
And farther, to shew the deference the bishop
paid to the consentient testimony of the primitive
writers, and with what sort of spirit they ought to
be read by the candidates of divinity, I shall here,
for their sakes, transcribe a very remarkable passage
366 THE LIFE OF
1708. from his discourse concerning the State of Man before
~ the Fa!l,8cc., wherein, after our author had justified
the concurrent interpretation of a text of Scripture
by the catholic doctors, he speaks after this manner ;
P" You will now, I presume, easily pardon this large
" digression, being in itself not unuseful, and being
" also necessary to remove a stone of offence often
" cast in the way of the reader, that converseth
" with the writings of the ancient Fathers. Nay,
" moreover, I shall persuade myself, that from this
" one instance among many, you will learn from
" henceforth the modesty of submitting your judg-
" ment to that of the catholic doctors, where they
" are found generally to concur in the interpretation
" of a text of Scripture, how absurd soever that
" interpretation may at first seem to be. For upon
" a diligent search you will find, that aliquid latet
" quod noil patet, there is a mystery in the bottom,
" and that what at first view seemed very ridiculous
" will afterwards appear to be an important truth.
" Let them therefore, who reading the Fathers are
" prone to laugh at that in them which they do not
" presently understand, seriously consider, quanta suo
" periculo id faciant"
Heendea- LXXV. Among other irregularities which the
thV6" bishop found had prevailed in his diocese, was the
j general custom of administering public baptism in
in private, private houses. This he declared against, as an
absurd and uncanonical practice ; absurd, as being
inconsistent with the design and words of the office,
drawn up for that purpose ; which all along supposeth
1J Vol. iii. Discourse ^th.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 367
it to be used in the church, in the presence of the i7°8-
congregation ; and tmcanonical, as being directly
contrary to the express words of the 81st Canon.
His lordship took a great deal of pains, both in his
charge to the clergy, and in his discourses with them
and the laity, to convince them of the unreasonable
ness and irregularity of that custom ; and though his
endeavours in this matter did not meet with that
entire success which he expected and desired, yet in
a great many parishes, I am credibly informed, this
irregular practice was wholly laid aside ; and in all
other places in that diocese, I hear, it is very much
disused, though not quite abolished. Indeed his
conversation with his clergy was upon all occasions
grave and serious, and related chiefly to the condi
tion of their parishes, and the disposition of their
people, and the discharge of their own duties, espe
cially in catechising, and visiting the sick. Some
times he would represent the difficulty and import
ance, as well as the dignity of their office ; at another
time, the great obligations they lay under of being
devout and studious as much as might be, and of
using their utmost endeavours to destroy vice and
error, and to build up their people in faith and holi
ness ; and never failed frequently to put them in mind
of the horrible punishment which would ensue, if any
soul should miscarry through their negligence.
Though the bishop was a great admirer of the con- He De
stitution of the Church of England, as being in the p"
main founded upon the best and purest antiquity ; ^j
yet he often lamented her distressed state, from the iiriations-
decay of ancient discipline, and from those divisions
which prevailed in the kingdom ; and more particu
larly from the great number of lay-impropriations.
368 THE LIFE OF
1708. The last of these he looked upon as the occasion of
"the two former, upon which he said, several good
men called the alienation of tithes the scandal of
the reformation ; and that they esteemed it the great
blemish of the happy restoration, that there was not
sufficient care taken at that time of the interest of
the Church of England, in respect to the revenues of
it. All the impropriations might easily have been
purchased in those days, when the national funds
were all clear, and such vast arrears in all bishoprics,
as, if laid out to that use, would very much have
lessened the number of them. When the bishop
talked upon this subject, he would often mention
with pleasure the wisdom and goodness of the queen,
in her augmentation of the maintenance of the poor
clergy; and he hoped that several of her subjects,
led by the example of her royal bounty, would of
their own plenty bring their gifts into this treasury,
and so render it effectual to those purposes her
majesty intended it. This design he thought would
be more easily carried on, if some rich impropriators
could be prevailed upon to restore to the church
some part of her revenues, which they had too long
retained, to the great prejudice of the church, and
very often to the ruin of their families, by that secret
curse, which is the usual attendant of sacrilegious
possessions. He was able to give instances of this
kind in some families of his acquaintance ; and in
this point my lord seemed to concur with the opinion
of sir Henry Spelman.
Though he was always in his judgment against
lay-impropriations, yet he was never so sensible of
the great inconveniences which attend them, till he
came into the diocese of St. David's, where they are
DR. GEORGE BULL. 369
very numerous, and the salaries allowed the curates i7°8-
by the impropriators too mean and inconsiderable to
make a tolerable maintenance. The bishop applied
himself to several of these impropriators, in hopes to
have prevailed with them to advance their salaries
to a competent subsistence, having still a due regard
to the number of inhabitants in each parish, and to
the value of the profits they received from it. But
the little success he met with in these applications
put him upon inquiring how far it might lie in his
own power to remedy this grievance, and redress
the just complaints of the poor curates. And it was
his opinion, that there was sufficient authority vested
in the bishop to ascertain the salaries of all curates
within his own diocese, whether they were employed
under a clergyman or a lay-impropriator. As for
the bishop's power in the former case, it was never
questioned, and he saw no reason why it should not
be allowed in the latter ; and had my lord lived to
have seen London once more, he designed to have
discoursed his brethren the bishops on this momen
tous affair, and to have received farther advice and
direction concerning it. For if the bishops have
such a power, they ought by all means to insist
upon it, when it is so plain and evident, that a due
exercise of that part of the episcopal authority would
be of such great advantage at this time towards pro
moting the Christian religion, as professed in the
Church of England ; for the slender salaries of these
impropriators make it impossible to have those places
served by able ministers; and where such are want
ing, the dissenting teachers of all denominations,
who are wise and industrious enough to improve all
advantages against the church, will be sure to lay
B b
370 THE LIFE OF
1708. hold of such opportunities to set up their meeting-
~ houses in such parishes, where they have so fair a
prospect of making proselytes to their several parties.
Nor must the lay-impropriators bear the blame of
all the inconveniences the church suffereth upon this
account ; for though several colleges and chapters
have, since the restoration, much augmented the
cures which belong to them, yet it must be owned
they are not all come in, to enlarge their allowances
to the poor curates. When this good bishop was
prebendary of Gloucester, that chapter made a strict
inquiry into the value of the several vicarages which
belonged to them, and made very handsome aug
mentations in those places where they were want
ing; and I am informed, that the deans and chap
ters of Worcester, of Christ Church in Oxford, and
of Carlisle, have long since considered the same mat
ter to the same good purposes ; and it is to be wished,
that other colleges and chapters would follow such
good examples, and thereby effectually put a stop
to those reproaches which have been thrown upon
them, though if the allowances they make to the
cures which belong to them were as mean and scanty
as those of the lay-impropriators, yet I humbly con
ceive they would not be liable to the same reproach,
since the application of the impropriated tithes and
lands to the maintenance of scholars and dignita
ries in cathedrals, is not so gross a perversion of
the ends for which they were at first given, and so
sacrilegious an abuse of them, as the alienation of
them to laymen, who do no service to the church ;
whereas the others are supposed to do some, though
not exactly that for which those donations were
given.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 371
He pursued the same method in the government 1708.
of his family, while he was bishop, which he prac-Theman-
tised during his confinement to a private station ; vernLflm
his desire and endeavour was, to have it regulated [vhuVhe
according to that excellent form recommended to us was bish°P-
in Scripture, by the examples of Joshua and David ;
and in order to introduce this, he took care, in the
first place, to have them instructed in the principles
of religion, and then gave them frequent and earnest
exhortations to a holy life, and grave and friendly
reproofs when necessary ; to which he added a bright
example of piety and devotion, that as by his in
structions he taught them how to know their duty,
so by the pattern he set before them, they might
learn how to practise it. He had prayers in his
family twice every day, morning and evening ; and
while he resided at Brecknock, he, and as many as
could be spared, went constantly to public prayers
at church. He continued the custom which he had
always used, of having some religious exercises per
formed in his family upon a Sunday evening ; and
some part of that excellent book, called The whole
Duty of Man, or of some other practical treatise in
divinity, was read to them ; which he designed chiefly
for the benefit of the servants, who could not attend
the public worship ; but the bishop himself and all
his family, as well as his servants, were present at
it. And certainly a day set apart, on purpose for
the worship and honour of God, and the spiritual
improvement of our souls, and for our preparation
for eternity, ought chiefly to be employed to such
religious ends ; and masters of families cannot better
discharge the great trust which is reposed in them
upon such occasions, than by instructing their
B b 2
372 THE LIFE OF
1708. children, servants, and other dependents, in the
"necessary knowledge of religion, and by raising their
minds to a steady pursuit of those things which be
long to their peace, before they are hid from their
eyes. He was strict and careful in his inquiries
concerning the character and behaviour of his ser
vants, especially as it related to their absence from
prayers, or to their neglect in not receiving the
holy communion; even one of the last times he
received the blessed sacrament, which was the Lord's
day before he was confined by his last sickness, find
ing two of his servants to be absent, he sent for them,
and severely reproved them for their neglect ; and
then declared, that he was fully determined, never
to keep a servant in his house, that persisted in the
omission of so great a duty, and therefore, if they
had a mind to continue in his service, they must
resolve to be constant communicants.
His several LXXVI. As the good bishop's income increased,
methods of -i . -i i . *• i • i • » •» ' •
charity, so did the exercise or his charity; and during the time
of his sitting in that see, his hospitality and his alms
were much too large for his revenues ; but he never
had so mean a design, as to Braise an estate from
the income of any church preferment, and though
he brought a good patrimony into the service of the
church, yet when God called him to his rest he left
none behind him. He contented himself to make a
very slender provision for his family, which, with
God's blessing, he esteemed the best inheritance.
9 Gloria episcopi est pauperum opibus providere. Ignominia
omnium sacerdotum propriis studere divitiis. S. Hieron. ad
Ncpotianum.
DR. GEORGE BULL.
His doors were always thronged with the poor and 1708.
needy, who found comfort and support from his ~
bounty; and all the time he lived at Brecknock,
which is a very poor town, about sixty necessitous
people, truly indigent, were fed with meat, or served
with money, every Lord's day at dinner-time ; and
he allowed very largely to widows and orphans in
the same place, and sent liberally to relieve the dis
tress of necessitous prisoners ; and sad were the cries
and lamentations of those destitute wretches, when
the bishop was forced to leave that place for a freer
air at Abermarless, which was a little more than
half a year before he died.
As he had made large expenses in repairing the
parsonage houses of Suddington and A veiling, where
he had been rector for several years, which amount
ed at least to five hundred pounds ; so now he pro
cured the college chapel at Brecknock, part whereof
was fallen down, to be put into that good repair in
which it appears at present ; but towards the effect
ing of this, he prevailed with the far greatest part of
the prebendaries to allow one half year's reserved
rent.
He was very charitable to poor clergymen's widows
or children, when they came to compound for their
mortuaries. Now a mortuary is a customary duty,
supposed to be due for tithes and oblations neglected
to be paid by the deceased ; so that it is not due by
law, as my lord rCoke observeth, but by custom.
And it was not only customary to pay this duty, but
it was usual to bring it to the church when the
corpse was buried, and then to offer it as a satisfaction
r 2d Instit. p. 491.
,374 THE LIFE OF
1708. for the supposed negligence in substracting tithes,
"and from hence, as sMr. Selden tells us, it was called
a corse-present. His method upon such occasions
was this : when any clergyman died poor, or but in
indifferent circumstances, and left many children
behind him, and those unprovided for, he always
remitted the mortuary, and gave them some good
exhortations ; and in order the better to make them
effectual, he administered to them some seasonable
relief, by way of present, if the difficulty of their
case required it. And it is farther asserted, by those
who were intimately acquainted with his lordship's
proceedings, that he was very kind to all his clergy
in their compositions, and to prevent any oppression
from the management of his steward, he gave him
self the trouble of settling these matters. And it is
the opinion of some that very well understand this
affair, that it would be of great importance to the
welfare of that diocese, if some certain method could
be fixed on to make clergymen's widows more easy
in this respect.
Sometimes in the dispositions of his charity the
bishop had a particular regard to the good of souls ;
and because it is very difficult to instruct those in
the necessary principles of religion, who are grown
old in ignorance, he therefore enticed such by a
pecuniary allowance to submit themselves to receive
knowledge. It is certain, that the extremities of
old age participate in some degree of the weak and
helpless condition of childhood, and what makes it
still much more lamentable is, when the mind, for
s History of Tythes, 287. Sir William Dugdale, in his Anti
quities of Warwickshire, hath a learned discourse upon mortuaries,
p. 679.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 375
want of due cultivation in the preceding stages of 1708.
life, is altogether destitute of those Christian princi
ples which should then support and comfort it. And
therefore a charity of this nature, which endeavoured
to repair the omissions of a neglected education, was
of the greatest importance ; because persons in that
condition stood upon the brink of eternity, without
having made that provision which was necessary to
secure the happiness of so great a change. He
allowed therefore twelve pence a week apiece to
twelve old people of Brecknock, upon condition that
they would submit to learn the principles of the
Christian religion, and be ready and willing to give
an account of them.
When the bishop came to live at Brecknock, they
had public prayers in that place only upon Wednes
days and Fridays, but by his care during his stay
there, they have prayers now every morning and
evening in the week. The method he took to
establish this daily exercise of devotion was briefly
this : upon his visiting the college in that town, he
made the following proposal to the prebendaries,
that, whereas they had each of them a certain yearly
stipend under the name of a pension, out of their
respective prebends, towards reading of daily prayers
in the college chapel, which by reason of its distance
from the body of the town, were very little fre
quented, and indeed hardly by any but the scholars
of the free-school, which is adjoining to it ; those
pensions should for the future be applied to encou
rage the vicar of Brecknock to perform daily the
morning and evening service in the town church, or
chapel, as it is usually called. This proposal ap
peared to them so reasonable, that they all readily
376 THE LIFE OF
1708. agreed to it. By this means the vicarage is con-
"siderably augmented, and the college prayers are
still kept up for the benefit of the scholars, to whom
chiefly they could be of use since the ruin of the
college ; the master of the school having ever since
discharged that duty ; and the bishop for his encou
ragement gave him a prebend just by the town, with
design that it might for ever be annexed to the school.
And whereas at Caermarthen they had only morn
ing prayers upon week days when his lordship first
came to that town, he set up also constant evening
prayers; and towards this additional labour he al
lowed the curate the yearly synodals of the arch
deaconry ; to which Mr. Archdeacon Tenison, who
is very ready to contribute to all works of charity
and piety, being then upon the place, added twenty
shillings a year out of his revenue there, and the
prayers are still kept up and well frequented.
Redesign- LXXVII. Sometime before his last sickness,
ed to have
sentacir- after he removed from Brecknock to Abermarless,
cular letter . «-ii i c -i i • n i •
to all his he entertained thoughts or addressing to all his
clergy? by way of a circular letter, in order to re-
commend to their consideration, and press upon their
was drawn practice, some very important methods for promoting
virtue and piety in his diocese ; and after his death
there was found among his papers a letter drawn up
to that purpose. It is certain that it had not his
last hand, and wants that perfection which usually
attended whatever he composed ; but however, be
cause the matter of it is unexceptionable, and the
design of it hath a great tendency to advance the
interest of religion ; and because it sheweth at the
same time how the thoughts of the good bishop were
DR. GEORGE BULL. 377
to the last fixed upon the service of his great Mas- 1708.
ter, in forwarding the good of souls, I shall insert it
in this place, begging indulgence from the reader for
any defects that may appear in a plan which was
not finished by his lordship.
To the Reverend the Archdeacons and the rest of
the Clergy of the Diocese of Stt David's.
MY BRETHREN,
BEING desirous, according to my duty, to pro- The design
mote the salvation of those souls which the pro vi- ter. 1S
dence of God hath, in a particular manner, com
mitted to my care ; and being sensible that this
great work can be no otherwise effected, than by
advancing the interest and power of religion in the
hearts and lives of men : give me leave to suggest to
you, my brethren, my fellow-labourers in the Lord,
some few methods, which I conceive may be of ad
mirable use to this purpose ; which, if we are so happy
as to accomplish, will greatly tend to the increase of
piety and virtue in my diocese, and enable us all to
give up our accounts at the last great day, when we
shall appear before the tribunal of Christ, with joy,
and not with grief.
The first thing therefore that I would recommend The first
to you, and which I do earnestly exhort you to, is commend-
to apply yourselves with great diligence to
the practice of family devotion in all the families ™ de"
of your respective parishes. I need not prove to
you what is so very manifest, that nothing helpetli
more to keep up a sense of religion in the minds of
men, than a serious, reverent, and constant perform
ance of this necessary duty ; whereby both the glory
of God is much advanced, and many blessings do
378 THE LIFE OF
1708. also accrue to those who in this manner daily adore
and praise their great Creator, the Lover of souls.
But in order to this purpose, I must with some
warmth beseech you to make a particular applica
tion to every housekeeper in your several parishes,
and to endeavour to convince them, if need be, how
much it is their interest, as well as duty, to worship
God daily in their families ; since it is not only the
properest expression of their own piety, but the like
liest method to make their children and servants
obedient and faithful : and I would farther advise
you to second your exhortations of this kind with
recommending to them some small books, which
explain and press this duty, and lay down forms for
the performance of it. I am assured that there are
several * books of this kind to be purchased at very
easy rates ; and I could wish, that your own abilities,
or the assistance of some charitable and well-disposed
neighbour, might lodge these gratis in the families
t Books of this kind are, viz.
The Necessary Duty of Family Prayer. Price \d. or 6s. per
hundred.
Exhortation to Housekeepers to set up the Worship of God in
their Families, with daily Prayers for Morning and Evening. Price
id. or 6s. per hundred.
The Necessity of Family Prayer, and the deplorable Condition
of prayerless Families considered, with Prayers for their Use.
Price \d. or 6s. per hundred.
All three printed by J. Downing, in Bartholomew-close.
Family Devotion ; or, an Exhortation to Morning and Evening
Prayer, with two Forms suited thereunto, as also for private use.
By E. Gibson, D. D. Printed for R. Whitledge. Price 3^. or
los. per hundred.
Family Religion ; or the Exercise of Prayer and Devotion in
private Families. Printed for B. Aylmer. Price 2d. or los. per
hundred.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 379
of the poorer sort ; though if you procure a sufficient i7°8-
number of such books, it is not to be doubted, but
that when your parishioners think them necessary,
they will readily pay for the same, the price being
so very inconsiderable.
These your exhortations, and procuring books to
that purpose, being backed with your frequent and
repeated admonitions, will, I hope, by the assistance
of divine grace, bring all your parishioners to the
constant and serious practice of family prayer;
especially if you represent to them at the same time
the great importance of exercising this duty, not
only as it relates to the propagating of true piety
and religion in the present age, but also as it tends
to the securing of them in all future ages. For the
example of parents and masters will, in all proba
bility, make such deep impressions upon the minds
of their children and servants, as to excite them to
an imitation of their practice, whenever they shall
become themselves masters of families ; and so then
this duty will not only be observed in their families
at present; but probably also in all those families
that shall descend and issue from them for ever.
And to make this exercise of family devotion still
more useful, you must farther exhort them, when
they have leisure, as they often have on winter
evenings, especially on Sundays, to introduce their
family prayers with reading some portions of holy
Scripture, and of other pious and religious books
proper to instruct and persuade them to the diligent
discharge of all Christian virtues.
And since it is matter of great grief and sorrow
to all those who unfeignedly labour in the Gospel,
and are intrusted with the care of precious and im-
380 THE LIFE OF
1708. mortal souls, to observe in their several parishes the
~ habitual neglect of this duty, upon the constant use
whereof the spiritual welfare of their parishioners
doth so much depend ; I cannot forbear solemnly
charging you to exert yourselves with more than
ordinary zeal in this matter; that so this affair of
such great consequence to the good of souls, may
in your several parishes be brought to its wished-for
and desired perfection.
The second The second thing that I shall recommend and
commend- earnestly exhort you to, as of singular use towards
h!g 'charity "promoting religion in a wicked and degenerate age,
schools. js IQ endeavour the erecting charity -schools in your
several parishes ; wherein the children of the poor
may be taught to read and write, and to repeat our
excellent Church Catechism, and to understand the
principles of our holy religion, which are so neces
sary to their eternal salvation ; and whereby they
may be fitted to receive farther instructions from
those discourses you shall from time to time make
to them from the pulpit. It is not to be doubted
but that a great part of that profaneness and de
bauchery, which prevails among the poorer sort, is
very much owing to that gross ignorance of religion,
which abounds among them : now what remedy so
proper to prevent this fatal mischief, as the Chris
tian education of poor children under strict disci
pline? And this ought the rather to be attempted,
because I am informed many poor people in this
diocese are very desirous that their children should
receive the benefit of such an education, though
they are not able to be at the charge of procuring
it for them.
This I do the more heartily recommend to you,
DR. GEORGE BULL. 381
because it hath already been blessed, by the gracious
providence of God, with great success in many other
parts of the kingdom, especially in and about the
cities of London and Westminster ; where there are
not only great numbers of children instructed gratis,
in the principles of the Christian religion, but are
also placed out to several different occupations, and by
degrees made useful members of the commonwealth.
And indeed I hardly know any charity that is at
tended with greater advantages to the souls and
bodies of poor creatures, than this which I now re
commend to you.
In order to this purpose, I beseech you to apply
yourselves to such of your parishioners as are willing
to contribute towards the carrying on this very good
work, and who are able by their subscriptions to
answer the necessary expense which attends it.
Lead them by your own example, and upon this oc
casion do not fail to throw your mite into the trea
sury. Neither you nor they, I am satisfied, will
ever be able to employ your alms better, nor direct
your charity to nobler purposes. As to the methods
of erecting and governing these charity-schools, they
are laid down with so much judgment and exact
ness in the Account of Charity Schools, that is an
nually printed at London, and distributed all over
the kingdom, that I shall suggest nothing to you
upon that head, but desire you to consult that Ac
count, and seriously to peruse it for your farther
direction.
And since I am upon the subject of instructing
children, I desire you to signify to all schoolmasters
within your several parishes, that they take care to
use prayers in their schools morning and evening;
382 THE LIFE OF
1708. and that they not only instruct their scholars in the
~~ Church Catechism, but also teach them short prayers
for their private use, obliging them never to omit
repeating them morning and evening. And I desire
you to inquire frequently, how the schoolmasters of
your several parishes discharge these abovementioned
duties ; it being of the greatest consequence to the
welfare both of the church and the state, that all
children should be religiously and piously educated.
And therefore I require you from time to time to
signify to me the names of such schoolmasters as,
after your repeated admonitions, shall neglect their
duty as to the aforesaid particulars, that their li
cences may be revoked, and that they may be de
clared for the future incapable of so great a trust.
The third A third thing that I shall recommend to you, as
commend- very useful towards propagating Christian know-
braryof1 ledge, is to endeavour to dispose all parents that
poetical are °f ability in your several parishes, to supply
divinity for eacjt ^ ijie{r children, before they marry, or are
otherwise settled in the world, with a small u library,
containing books of practical divinity to the value
of three, four, or five pounds, fixed in a little press
with shelves proper for that purpose. This will
make any portion that parents are able to bestow
upon their children a true blessing ; and indeed is a
very valuable present, since it tends so directly to
provide for the welfare of their immortal souls. And
11 There has been since printed a sheet of paper, called The
young Christian's Library; or a collection of good and useful
books, proper to be given to young persons by their parents, in
order to their Christian education and improvement, &c. Printed
and sold by J. Downing in Bartholomew-close, near West- Smith-
field.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 383
to render this most effectual, they ought to enjoin 1708.
their children, at the same time they make them
this present of books, to read them often and se
riously, and to keep them with care and safety dur
ing their lives, and then to leave them in the same
good condition to their posterity ; by which means
the knowledge of religion may be propagated from
age to age in all future generations.
The fourth thing I shall recommend to you, is The fourth
to give notice to all your parishioners, that thelJ^end.
Common Prayer Book in Welsh is lately printed ^^
in a small volume, and sold by Mr. Whitledge,Common
bookseller, in Ave-Maria-lane, at London; and ^
Mr. Thomas Jones at Shrewsbury; so that all
your parishioners may supply themselves therewith.
These Common Prayer Books are much wanted by
the people of my diocese, and I am informed, that
they will be universally purchased, especially since
they will be sold for about eighteenpence apiece.
And to facilitate this matter, and make it easy to
your parishioners, I would advise you to collect
money of them, in order to buy such quantities as
may supply their occasions ; that by this means they
may quickly and easily be dispersed through the
whole diocese.
I need not suggest to you the advantages that
will arise from your success in this matter: they
appear at first sight, and a little consideration will
make them familiar to you. And that the poor may
be brought to give their attendance in the house of
God, I conceive it may be very proper for you to
persuade the gentlemen, and other persons of abi
lity within your several parishes, who usually on
384 THE LIFE OF
1708. Sundays relieve the poor at their own doors, to con
fine that charity to such as have that day been at
church ; and, if it may be convenient, even to give
their alms at the church doors. This method will
in all probability excite the poor to diligence, in
attending the public worship of God.
The fifth The fifth thing that I shall recommend to you,
commend- and to which I do most earnestly exhort you, is, that
cu're°the0 2/ou would endeavour to use your interest with the
p^i^exe. justices of the peace in the other counties of my
cuti.on diocese, to follow the example of those of Caermar-
agamst
vice and then : \vhere several worthy justices of the peace
immorality. .
have exerted themselves with great vigour, to sup
press vice and immorality, as appears by the under
written paper, which they subscribed in open quar
ter-sessions, and which afterwards was dispersed
into every parish of the said county; and which,
as I am informed, hath had a wonderful influence
upon the lives and manners of the people.
The making of the best laws is but of small im
portance, if no care is taken to put them in exe
cution ; they shew indeed the wisdom of those that
have contrived and enacted them ; but they will
leave us where they found us, except magistrates
put on vigour and resolution, to render them effec
tual to the purposes for which they were designed.
This duty was urged upon all the magistrates of the
kingdom, by her majesty herself, upon her happy
accession to the throne, as one of her first cares for
the welfare of her people ; and indeed, it tendeth so
apparently to the honour of God, as well as to the
good of all her majesty's subjects, that it is no won
der that it should be so particularly the concern
DR. GEORGE BULL. 385
of a princess, who is distinguished by her zeal for
both.
You may farther strengthen the example of the
justices of the peace of Caermarthen with the prac
tice of several worthy societies in this kingdom, who
(to their true honour be it spoken) zealously labour
in this good work of reformation of manners. I do
therefore most heartily recommend them both to
their imitation, and exhort you to solicit their com
pliance with this my recommendation, in regard
such extraordinary success hath attended the pro
ceedings of the gentlemen in the county of Caermar
then ; and that by the endeavours of the societies
many thousands of lewd and disorderly persons have
been brought to legal punishment.
There is one instance more of the good disposi
tions of the justices of the peace of Caermarthen-
shire, which I desire you to lay before the justices of
the peace of the other counties of my diocese ; and
which I require you to exhort them to imitate ; viz.
the method they take of providing for the spiritual
wants of poor prisoners in their county goal, by
allowing a salary of five pounds per annum to a
clergyman, to read to them divine service every
Lord's day, and frequently to administer to them
the comfortable sacrament of the body and blood of
our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
I shall conclude this long letter, with praying to
God, from whom cometh every good and perfect
gift, that he would enable you by his grace to per
form what I have recommended to you, as tending
very much to the honour and service of our great
Master ; and that he would be pleased to bless your
c c
386 THE LIFE OF
1708. sincere endeavours with success: and at the same
~ time I do assure you that I am,
My dear brethren,
Your most affectionate brother
and humble servant,
GEORGE ST. DAVID'S.
The paper mentioned to be underwritten.
WHEREAS the queen has issued forth her seve
ral proclamations, for suppressing vice and immo
rality; wherein she strictly enjoins all magistrates
to put the laws impartially in execution against all
persons that are guilty of profane cursing and swear
ing, profanation of the Lord's day, or any other
vice and immorality ; and whereas there has been
a general defect in putting the laws in execution
against such offenders, both in England and Wales,
until lately the magistrates, in pursuance of the
said several proclamations in England, have exerted
themselves vigorously and impartially on these occa
sions, and have given countenance and encourage--
ment to those persons that gave informations of the
commission of the said crimes : therefore we, whose
names are hereunto subscribed, being magistrates in
the county of Caermarthen, do look upon ourselves
to be under an indispensable duty to follow their
good example ; and we do hereby unanimously de
clare, that we will impartially put the laws in exe
cution against all such persons, that shall curse and
swear, and profane the Lord's day, or commit any
other vice or immorality. And also we declare, that
we will give all due countenance and encouragement
to all such persons, that shall give us information of
DR. GEORGE BULL. 387
these crimes, being sensible, that they do the greatest
acts of charity to the guilty persons, in endeavouring
their reformation. And we do hereby farther de
clare and promise voluntarily, in order to silence an
objection usually made, that magistrates are guilty,
and do not pay ; that we will pay any forfeiture we
shall incur by the commission of the said crimes,
being convinced that the poor have a right to it by
law, and whosoever detains it will do an act of in
justice ; therefore no person must expect favour or
connivance, since we ate so impartial to ourselves.
And we do hereby earnestly request the reverend
the clergy of the several parishes of this county, to
cause this to be written in a fair hand on parch
ment ; and afterwards that they cause the church
wardens of their several parishes to fix it on a board,
and frame it in ; that it may be kept safe, and hung
out at the church door duly every year three times,
viz. at Whitsuntide, Easter, and Christmas, by the
sextons of the several parishes, and at all times
that the act of parliament against cursing and swear
ing is read in the churches ; that all persons may be
reminded often of these our resolutions, and to avoid
the commission of the aforesaid crimes. Given under
our hands, at open quarter-sessions, the sixth day
of October, 1708.
THOMAS POWELL.
GRIFFITH LLOYD.
WILLIAM BRIGSTOCK.
THOMAS LLOYD.
HENRY VAUGHAN.
JOHN VAUGHAN.
c c 2
888 THE LIFE OF
1708. LXXVIII. One great means of maintaining the
The bishop purity of the faith among the people, and discipline
tan i among the clergv m the priwiitive times, was the
in his dio- constant residence of the bishop in his diocese ; and
the absence of prelates from that district committed
to their particular superintendance hath been at
tended with fatal consequences to the churches under
their government. The description which our Sa
viour maketh of the good shepherd seemeth to
require their attendance ; for how shall he know his
sheep by their name, and how shall he walk before
them, if he doth not constantly reside among them ?
And how shall any irregularities among the clergy
be either prevented or rectified, when the episcopal
authority is wanting to both purposes ? The nature
of the bishop's office, before settled revenues were
affixed to bishoprics, required his constant attend
ance ; for he had a particular authority in disposing
the incomes of the church, and it was his care to see
them managed to the best advantage. The ancient
x councils have several canons, which require that all
the incomes and oblations should be dispensed by
the will and discretion of the bishop, to whose care
the people and the souls of men are committed. The
apostolical canons mention the same power ; and
though he had proper assistants under him, yet they
were only stewards of his own appointing, and were
accountable to him as the supreme governor of his
church. And when the empire became Christian,
and churchmen became too secular, councils took
care to regulate this matter : for the council of
x Mr. Bingham's Antiquities of the Christian Church, &c., vol. ii.
p. 384.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 389
Sardica hath several canons which relate to it. The 1708.
seventh decreeth, that no bishop should go to the
emperor's court, unless the emperor by letter called
him thither : the very next canon to that provides,
that whereas there might be cases which might
require a bishop to make some application to the
emperor in behalf of the poor or widows, or of such
who fled for sanctuary to the church, as condemned
criminals, and the like ; in such cases the deacons of
the church were to be employed to go in his name,
that the bishop might fall under no censure at court
as neglecting the business of his church. Justinian
hath a law of the same import, that no bishop should
appear at court upon any business of his church,
without the command of his prince. But if any
petition was preferred to the emperor relating to any
civil contest, the bishop should depute his apocrisi-
arius or resident at court to act for him, or send his
recoriomus, or some other of his clergy, to solicit the
cause in his name, that the church might never re
ceive damage by his absence, nor be put to unneces
sary expenses. Another canon of the Sardican coun
cil limits the absence of the bishop to three weeks,
unless it were upon some very weighty and urgent
occasion. And another canon alloweth no more
time for a bishop who is possessed of an estate to
go and collect his revenues ; and that with this con
dition, provided he celebrates divine service every
Lord's day in the country church where his estate
lieth. Our worthy bishop, in order to pursue his
duty according to the directions of the great Shep
herd of souls, chose his diocese for the only place of
his residence ; and by that means he made some
amends for that imperfect manner wherewith he
THE LIFE OF
1708. performed the administrations of his holy function;
~ which did not proceed from negligence or any want
of a right intention to discharge them, but from his
weakness and infirmities, and from that load of
years under which he now laboured.
The bishop It is a common observation, that the best things
extremely
surprised by corruption become the worst ; but 1 am sure it
nlacai '" '" holds good in no case so surely as in those that
priest. undertake the priestly office ; who if they contradict
their ordination vows in the constant course of their
lives, if they are false to those engagements which
they solemnly entered into before God and the
church, they become the greatest and most despe
rate sinners ; their guilt is attended with the highest
aggravation, and with the least hopes of repentance.
An instance of such a deplorable wretch bishop Bull
once met with ; for while he lived at Brecknock,
there was a certain clergyman applied to him for
preferment, and being conscious of his want of those
qualifications which the bishop required in those he
advanced to any considerable station, he was resolved
to try another method ; for bad men, judging of
others by themselves, easily persuade themselves,
that other men are influenced by those corrupt prin
ciples which prevail in their own minds ; he had the
impudence to offer him a purse of gold ; the good
bishop saw it and trembled, and was never known
to express a greater concern than upon that occa
sion ; the confusion he was in upon such an unex
pected provocation extremely disordered him, and
he immediately sent away this abandoned prostitute
with great indignation.
LXXIX. The bishop by the method of his studies
strength
DR. GEORGE BULL. 391
contracted several indispositions of body, such as 1708.
commonly attend all hard students, especially if by intense
they make choice of the night for that purpose. ^nab'iT*1
But though this was agreeable enough to his genius, study*
and very serviceable to the ends he proposed by it ;
yet he was at last convinced of its fatal effects upon
his whole constitution, which he thereby found sen
sibly broken. All the time he continued in the
diocese of St. David's he was sickly, never being
well long together ; colds, and other distempers
which take thence their rise, created him almost
continually some uneasiness in his body, the entire
frame whereof he perceived to be mightily impaired;
and particularly his eyesight, the decay of which
he attributed to nothing else but his studying so
much at unseasonable hours.
In this uncertain state of health, without any 1709.
considerable alteration, he continued till the 27th
of September, 1709- That morning he was seized sickness
with a most violent fit of coughing, which by the
violence of the fit ended at last in spitting of blood,
which he lost that way in considerable quantities for
some hours. But this spitting of blood was by de
grees stopped for the present by his drinking two or
three glasses of cold water. The next day his bleed
ing returned about the same hour, but could not
then be stopped without opening a vein, at which
he bled very freely, which succeeded as well as could
be expected. The loss of so much blood every way,
together with the usual regimen prescribed him in
that distemper, whereby he was restrained from all
nourishing meats and all strong drinks, did so
weaken him, that it quite broke that little strength
of constitution which still remained ; so that when
392 THE LIFE OF
709. his last sickness seized him in February following,
~~ he had not strength enough to bear up long under
it. For his distemper was supposed to have been
an ulcer, or what they call the inward piles, occa
sioned by stagnated blood in the hsemorrhoid veins,
which under a violent looseness affected him with
great and exquisite pain ; so that the whole tjme of
his confinement did not exceed a fortnight.
1710. As soon as his distemper obliged him to keep his
of chamber, he perceived that his dissolution was near
at hand; and accordingly declared, "That he was
death. « now sensible of his own decay, and that he was
" sure he could not live many days." His physicians
seemed to incline to the same opinion after some
short attendance ; though they expressed themselves
herein with some hesitation and reserve ; which the
good bishop perceiving, thus addressed himself to
one of them ; Doctor, you need not be afraid to
tell me freely what your opinion of me is ; for I
thank my good God I am not afraid to die: it is
what I have expected long ago ; and I hope I am
not unprepared for it now. Repentance and mor-^
tification had been so much the happy work of his
strongest and healthful days, that when death ap
proached, he received the summons, not only with
resignation, but with some degree of satisfaction.
He had wisely made such a careful preparation for
his last hours, that he was now able to bear the
thoughts and approaches of his great change with
out amazement ; he had overcome that strong incli
nation of nature, whereby men usually cleave so
fast to life, by the wiser dictates of reason and reli
gion, which made him willing and contented to die
whenever God thought fit,
DR. GEORGE BULL. 393
This sense of his approaching departure out of the T710-
world made him careful not to omit any thing that His i
could be now done both for himself and family, for ration for
the better securing their common interest and salva
tion. During the time therefore of his confinement
he would often have the family to prayers in his
chamber at the usual hour ; and the prayers for the
sick in the office of the Visitation were added upon
those occasions, and sometimes the Litany. The
prayers for the sick were frequently repeated during
the whole time of his illness, at which he expressed
always great devotion. He would sometimes desire
to receive absolution in the form used in the Com
munion-office, which he thought came nearer to the
precatory forms of absolution mentioned in the Fa
thers than any other. But it doth not appear that
he hereby condemned the use of that form, which is,
at least in some cases, prescribed by our excellent
church in her office for the Visitation of the Sick, or
that he had any doubt concerning the benefits of
sacerdotal absolution, or of that authority which is
derived to the ministers or delegates of Christ of
forgiving the penitent their sins in his name ; since
in his last acts of preparation for death he earnestly
desired it, and solemnly received it. None can
deny that the form of absolution by him chosen is
certainly primitive, and therefore unexceptionable;
whether the other be so or no, hath been disputed
by the learned ; and he had a right to choose that
against which no exception could lie. This evi
dently was the case of this excellent prelate; and
upon this account, I suppose, he desired no other
form of absolution than this, which was undoubtedly
most ancient, a few days before his death ; when in
394 THE LIFE OF
i710- the presence of several persons he made a solemn
confession and declaration of the conduct of his
whole life, and so took his leave of the world in a
manner the most edifying that could be. Mr. Bull
his son, Mr. Archdeacon Stephens his son-in-law,
and Mr. Philips, a clergyman of that neighbourhood,
besides his own chaplain Mr. Havard, were of the
number of those that were present with him during
his sickness, who were edified not a little with what
they heard from his mouth ; and have all attested,
that he bore his last sufferings with a resigned tem
per and firmness of mind, which nothing bat the
grace of God and the consciousness of a well-spent
life could inspire, so that they never knew a warmer
example, to influence all within the reach of it to a
just sense of their own duty.
The con- First the bishop made a public confession of his
faith in the words of the Apostles' Creed. Then he
gave a short account of his life, running over the
his hfe. several stages of it, making useful remarks upon the
principal passages which occurred in each stage ;
recounting the several errors and miscarriages which
attended them, as far as he could recollect them by
his memory at that time. From the former he took
occasion to admire the goodness and wisdom of
divine Providence in the disposal of all the events
of things and conditions of men in the world : and
to bless God for all his dispensations towards him
self in particular, whether of good or evil things, in
the whole course of his life.
His repent- The latter gave him occasion to renew his sorrow
ground of and repentance for them, and for all the other
in m's Hfe past, which he might have for-
gotten, or could not at present recollect; for all
DR. GEORGE BULL. 395
which he expressed his earnest desire of mercy and i710-
forgiveness in some short but fervent prayers and
ejaculations. And because what he now did was
perfectly conformable to that public profession which
he had formerly made when he was in health, and
with the prospect of such an hour as this, the
reader perhaps will not be sorry to have here a
copy of it, which is as followeth : Y " I most firmly
" believe,5' said he, " that as I yield a steadfast assent
" to the Gospel of Christ, and as I work out true
" repentance by that faith, shaking off, by the grace
" of God, the yoke of every deadly sin, and in
" earnest devoting myself to the observation of his
" evangelical law ; I shall obtain by the sovereign
" mercy of God the Father, for the merits only of
" Jesus Christ his Son, and my Lord and Saviour,
" who offered up himself unto the Father a truly
" expiatory sacrifice for my sins, and for the sins
" of the whole world, the full remission of all my
" past sins, be they never so many and great. But
" then I have no otherwise any confidence of my
" sins being forgiven me, or of my being in a state
" of grace and salvation, but as by a serious examin-
" ation of my conscience, made according to the
" rule of the Gospel, there shall be evidence of the
" sincerity of my faith and repentance. And I
" believe, moreover, that while I bring forth fruits
" worthy of faith and repentance, and while I not
" only abstain from those crimes, which, according
" to the Gospel, exclude a man from heaven, but do
" diligently likewise exercise myself in good works,
" both those of piety towards God, and those of
y Apolog. pro Harmonia, Sect. ii. 3.
396 THE LIFE OF
1710. " charity towards my neighbour; so long I may pre-
~ " serve the grace that is given me, of remission and
" justification : and that if I die in this state, I am
" in the way of obtaining by it the mercy of God,
" and eternal life and salvation for the sake of Jesus
" Christ. I believe yet that I may fall away ; and
" after having received the Holy Ghost, may, as our
" church speaketh, depart from grace : and that
" therefore I ought to work out my salvation with
"fear and trembling. I believe also, that in the
" Gospel there is pardon promised to all that fall,
" let it be never so often, so that they do, before
" their death, renew their repentance, and do again
" their first works ; but then there is not any where
" promised to them either space of life, or grace,
" that they may repent. I believe there is given
" to some persons a certain extraordinary grace,
" according to the good pleasure of God ; but I ac-
" count it the greatest madness, for any one there-
" fore to presume upon such a grace, or to challenge
" ought for himself, beyond the promises of God
" which are made in the Gospel. And lastly, it is
" my firm belief, that throughout the whole course
" of my salvation, from the very first setting out,
" to the end thereof, the grace and assistance of
" God's Spirit is absolutely necessary: and that I
" never have done, and never can do, any spiritual
" good without Christ, is my full and certain per-
" suasion."
This is the confession of his faith, which he had
made about four and thirty years before to all the
world, and to which he now adhered at his death ;
even as to those very articles wherein he stood most
of all suspected for some time, and for the explica-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 397
tion of which in his books he was loudly but in- 1710.
judiciously censured by a great many, as hath been
before observed, for approaching too near Pelagianism
and Socinianism. For because he was not for mak
ing the grace of God a cloak for man's idleness ;
and was of the opinion, that none ought to expect
it, but they that pray for it, and none could reap
the fruit of it, but they who added watching to it ;
this was misconstrued as a detracting from grace,
and a depreciating of the most precious blood of
Christ, notwithstanding all his remonstrances to the
contrary. In pursuance, therefore, of those princi
ples he had so well defended in his health, and in
conformity with the church's directions, this close of
his life, and last most solemn act of it, designed to
recapitulate the whole, was exactly by him adjusted :
while to his faith he added thus repentance, and to
repentance charity, as the life and soul of them
both ; and casting himself, after having done all,
upon the infinite mercies of God, and the inestima
ble merits of Christ, with the deepest sense of his
own unworthiness, thereby expressed the true and
only way of justification which he had chosen. Of
which he had long before said, zThis is the way
of salvation, which by God's grace I have entered
into, or at least have desired to enter into, which
I have therefore chosen, because it is clearly set forth
to me in the holy Scriptures, and is a trodden and a
safe way, which all catholic Christians, for fifteen
hundred years at least from our Saviour's birth, have
trodden before me: and which was now ratified by
this his last authentic act and deed, made before
z Apol. Sect. ii. 3.
398 THE LIFE OF
1710. many witnesses. For having now solemnly pro
fessed his faith, that he might testify to them his
earnest desire of dying in the communion of the
apostles ; and adored the most wise and gracious
providence of God towards him, upon a faithful
review of the good and evil of his life past, from
his first setting out, to the last period of it ; he
gave glory to God in the profound humiliation of
his soul, and by suitable acts of contrition, adapted
to the several parts of his life, magnified the grace
of his Redeemer, calling upon him by faith with
great fervency, for inward purification and perfect
remission of his sins. Which devout acts and
aspirations, expressing the sincerity of his faith and
repentance, he signified in the style of all the saints,
and concluded in the very words of the prophet
David, Who can tell how oft he ojfendeth ? 0 cleanse
thou me from my secret faults.
His chanty, After this, the good bishop expressed his charity
and for
giveness of in all the branches of it, as far as he was then able
to do it ; namely, in an hearty desire of forgiveness
from all those whom he had offended or misused,
and in a cheerful readiness to forgive those who had
done him any hurt or injury. As to the other
branch of charity, that of giving, he had done it
in so generous and plentiful a manner all his life
time, that he did not express any great concern,
that the circumstances of his family were now such,
as would not admit of any act of charity of this kind :
this he concluded likewise with suitable prayers and
intercessions.
Hisprofes- jn £ne jast place ne professed, that as he had
sion con
cerning the always lived, so he was now resolved to die, in the
England, communion of the Church of England ; and declared,
DR. GEORGE BULL. 399
that he believed that it was the best constituted 1710.
church this day in the world ; for that its doctrine, ~~
government, and way of worship, were, in the main,
the same with those of the primitive church. Here
he put up some prayers for its peace and prosperity ;
and declaring again, that he was resolved to die in
its communion, he desired absolution, and received
it as before mentioned. And it is no wonder that
on his deathbed the good bishop professed such an
high esteem for the Church of England, since in the
time of his health and greatest vigour he was used
to express his zealous concern for her after the fol
lowing manner : " I would not be so presumptuous
" as to say positively, that I am able to bear so great
" a trial ; but according to my sincere thoughts of
" myself, I could, through God's assistance, lay down
" my life, upon condition that all those who dissent
" from the Church of England were united in her
" communion."
LXXX. The evening before he departed, hisTheman-
i -««- 11 n i i c ner °f h's
son-in-law, Mr. Archdeacon Stephens2, arrived irom taking
a great journey, upon the news he received of h
dangerous illness. The bishop embraced him with
great satisfaction, when he raised himself up in his
z [Rev. Joseph Stephens, archdeacon of Brecon, and vicar of
Clyro in Radnorshire. He was also rector of Suddington, where
he died in 1735, and on his monument there we read — Hoc
unicum illius memorise tradi sufficiat, quod doctissimo Prsesuli
Geo. Bullo et Patrono ejus munificentissimo charus fuit, negotiis-
que maximi momenti conjunctissimus. He married Anne the eldest
of the bishop's daughters, who died in 1703, aged 41, and her
epitaph in the church of Suddington St. Mary speaks of her as
Mulieris patre suo dignse, utpote eximia pietate gratiisque omnibus
quse sexum ornant ornatissimae.]
400 , THE LIFE OF
1710. bed to give him his blessing. When Mr. Stephens
expressed his great sorrow and concern, to find him
in so great misery by the complaints he made, he
told him, " he had endured a great deal, that he did
" not think he had so much strength of nature, but
" that now it was near being spent, and that in
" God's good time he should be delivered." And
when Mr. Stephens, in order to support him, urged
that his reward would be great in heaven, the good
bishop replied, " My trust is in God, through the
" merits of Christ." And being prevented from en
larging, by the exquisiteness of his pains, he desired
Mr. Stephens to retire, and refresh himself after his
journey. Some little time after this, he told those
that were about him, that he perceived he had some
symptoms of the near approach of death ; and or
dered them to call the doctor to him. And when
he came, he told him he thought he felt himself a
dying ; to which the doctor answered, that he could
not say he would live many hours. Upon this, he
sent for his wife and children, and the rest of his
family, and desired them to pray with him and for
him. And when prayers were over, he took his
solemn leave of every one in particular ; giving each
of them some serious exhortation and advice. And
this being done, he gave them his benediction, and
dismissed them.
His care He was moreover very careful, that none might
tk>nforC~ do themselves an injury by their zealous attendance
uPon him> while they were not capable of doing him
upon him. anv farther good. Wherefore he charged his wife,
as he did also his son-in-law, Mr. Stephens, to retire
to their rest : and when the doctor offered to conti
nue with him in his last hours, after their dismission,
DR. GEORGE BULL. 401
he told him, " He would not have him impair his 1710.
" health by sitting up with him ; since he could not
" be farther serviceable to him any other way, than
" by praying for him, and that he might do in his
" chamber." Nevertheless, he desired his son and
daughter, and Mr. Havard his chaplain, with some
others of the family, who were not in such danger of
being hurt by it, to stay with him till he died ; that
they might assist him with their prayers, especially
in his last agonies, when he should not be able to
pray for himself. He thought now, and so indeed did
all about him, that he could not last above an hour or
two longer ; and that, by the great weakness he was
reduced to when his last sickness left him, and the
pain he had endured since the beginning of his pre
sent distemper, the whole fabric, in a person of his
age, was now so shattered, that the separation of the
soul from the body could not be tedious or uneasy.
But, contrary to all expectation, he held it out
many hours under his last agonies.
He had his understanding and memory to the What was
observed of
last, and that in as great strength and vigour as ever him in the
he had them in the remembrance of those that per- °
fectly knew him. As an instance of which, the
reader may take this remarkable passage. The night
but one before he died, he sent for his son, Mr. Ro
bert Bull, and after having given him his leave and
order to publish his sermons, which are now printed,
he commanded him to strike out the preface of his
Visitation Sermon, which he said was too juvenile,
and to make two or three alterations in another of
his sermons, which alterations were taken from his
mouth, and since performed. But what was sur
prising in this matter, was, that he had delivered
Dd
THE LIFE OF
1710. these sermons to his son, at least six years before,
~~ and they were never so much as seen by his lordship
afterwards. During the time of his last conflict, he
scarce troubled himself, or those that waited upon
him, with taking any thing. But he passed it all
entirely in acts of piety and devotion. Sometime
he joined with those that were present in the prayers
of the office of the Visitation of the Sick ; the latter
part whereof was, by his direction, frequently re
peated in this interval ; but the greatest part of it
he spent in pious meditations and private ejacu
lations ; upon what subjects can be no farther guessed
at, than by observing his eyes and hands frequently
lifted up towards heaven, and sometimes tears and
smiles, interchangeably succeeding each other in his
countenance, one might think, that as the former
were the attendants of his repentance and confes
sions, so the latter were the result of that joy and
comfort which he felt in his mind, from the sense of
the pardon of his sins, and of the peace and favour
of a reconciled God ; which might also receive no
small addition at this juncture, from the near pro
spect he had of his deliverance from this mortal and
painful life, and of his entrance into a state of
everlasting happiness.
His repeat. When he found that he continued thus to live se
ed farewell
and dying veral hours longer than he expected, he sent again
tions to his for his wife and children to his bed-side, to take his
leave once more of them, and of the rest of the fa
mily that were up ; and they say, he was even fuller
now in his exhortations to them than before, and
they were mighty well suited, and particularly applied,
to the circumstances and conditions of the several
persons to whom they were given. He recommended
DR. GEORGE BULL, 403
his wife and children to the divine providence and 17 10-
protection in so moving and affectionate a manner,
as is difficult to express: and he thanked all his
servants for the pains they had taken with him in
his sickness : and as for the rest, his exhortations
ran chiefly upon general heads, such as the great
importance of religion, the vanity of the world, the
deceitful nature of riches and honours, and what
miserable comforters they would prove at last ; the
inefficacy, or at least the great hazard and uncom
fortable state of a deathbed repentance, and the ab
solute necessity of a holy life in order to a happy
death ; a life spent in the service of God, in doing1
good in the world, especially works of mercy and
charity. These are the subjects which he endea
voured to impress upon the minds of those he left
behind him ; and then once more he gave them his
solemn benediction. After this, he recommended
his soul into the hands of his Creator, in several
short but most excellent prayers, and repeated most
part of the seventy-first Psalm, so far as it suited his
circumstances, than which nothing could be more
proper, to express his trust and dependence upon
the power and goodness of God, and the continual
want he had of his grace and assistance ; moreover,
he ordered his chaplain to use the commendatory
prayer, when he perceived him to be at the point
of expiring, which was accordingly done several
times.
About nine in the morning his spirits began to His death,
sink, and his speech to falter, and a few minutes
after, without any visible sign of pain or difficulty,
with two gentle sighs, he resigned his soul to God,
D d 2
404 THE LIFE OF
171°- the 17th of February, 17-^ a. The last word he
spoken was Amen, to the commendatory prayer,
which he repeated twice distinctly and audibly after
his usual manner, a very little while before he died.
He was buried about a week after his death at
Brecknock. Brecknock, and liesb, as I am informed, between two
of his predecessors, bishop Manwaring and bishop
Lucy, and his funeral was attended with great num
bers of the gentry and clergy, both of the county of
Caermarthen and Brecknock. He had given strict
charge, that the burden of his debts should not be
increased by bestowing more expense upon his in
terment than what necessity and decency required.
And upon this account it is thought, that when he
was asked where he would be buried, whether at
Caermarthen or Brecknock, he returned this answer,
Where the tree falleth, there let it lie ; meaning,
that they should bury him in the parish church of
Lhandovery ; and what still farther inclined him to
this determination, was the extraordinary value and
respect which the bishop expressed to the memory
of Mr. Rees Prichard, formerly vicar of that place,
interred there, upon the account of his great and
a [According to Browne Willis he died at Abermarless ; (see
beginning of §. LXXVII.) but Jones, the historian of Brecknock
shire, informs us, on the authority of an old lady who lived in
Brecknock, that in consequence of some casual repairs at his house
at the college, he resided for a short time before his death at the
house of the historian's father, in the Lion-lane in Brecknock,
and that he died there. This lady described him as a venerable
old man with silvery white hair, and recollected receiving from
him his blessing not many days before his death within this
house.]
t> [Within the communion rails. JonesJ]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 405
celebrated piety, and the usefulness of his excellent
poems in the Welsh tongue ; which are in very great
repute among the inhabitants of that country, as well
for the plainness of the language, and the easiness
and smoothness of the measures, as for the import
ance of the subjects upon which he wrote ; the
whole book being in a manner an entire body of
practical divinity, in which several of the natives,
even those that are illiterate, are so well versed,
that they will very pertinently quote authorities out
of this book for their faith and practice. But the
bishop was prevailed upon by the desire of his wife
to consent to be buried at Brecknock, it being the
place where she designed to pass her sorrowful wi
dowhood, and consequently thereby should have an
assurance of lying in the same grave with him ; and
the matter was so ordered, that in making the bi
shop's grave she gave directions to have it done up
with walls every way, and so large as to contain
two corpses. And it hath pleased God very lately,
since I begun the Life of her excellent husband, to
call her to restc, and she is now reposed with this
pious prelate in that silent retirement she had pro
vided for herself, till the last trump shall summon
them both to judgment; d And the Lord grant
unto them that they may find mercy of the Lord
in that day. His grave is covered with a plain
stone, and the short inscription upon it which fol
lows was framed and ordered by his pious widow,
who was so satisfied with it herself, that she would
not suffer it to be cast into any other form.
c [She died l6th November, 1712, aged 75.]
'' 2 Tim. i. 1 8.
406 THE LIFE OF
1710. HERE LIETH
THE RIGHT REVEREND FATHER IN GOD,
DR. GEORGE BULL,
LATE BISHOP OF THIS DIOCESE;
WHO WAS EXCELLENTLY LEARNED,
PIOUS, AND CHARITABLE;
AND WHO DEPARTED THIS LIFE
FEBRUARY THE 17th, 1709,
AGED 75 e,
" [This inscription is within the communion rails ; on the
north wall is a monument erected by his son-in-law archdeacon
Stephens, containing a much longer epitaph , which was probably
written by him. It seems not to have been put up till after 1715,
in which year Browne Willis surveyed this church, and copied the
English inscription, but makes no mention of the other. It is as
follows : —
M. S.
Reverendi admodum Georgii Bull, cujus mgnuam nomen nulla
capit tabula, nulla delebit setas. Qualis fidei Sanctis olim traditse
ab impiis Socinistarum ac Solfidianorum dogmatibus vindex exti-
terit, quam indefessus veterum primsevse Ecclesise patrum lector,
quamque felix et moribus et scriptis imitator fuerit, soli norunt
Eruditissimi : publicam erga omnes pariter homines munificen-
tiam expert! sunt quotquot erant egeni : privatam erga Deum pie-
tatem unus novit pios qui remunerat Deus. Natus erat civitate
Wellensi et stirpe generosa, a prima etiam infantia sacerdotio
designatus, quod iniquissimis temporibus et afflictissimo Ecclesise
statu, nernpe circiter annum i656um, ab Episcopo Oxoniensi sus-
cepit. Restituta deinceps Ecclesia scribendo potentissimos sibi
conflavit inimicos, cum quibus aliquandiu luctatus denuo emersit,
factus primum canonicus Glocestrensis et deinde A. D. Landa-
vensis, A. D. 1686°. Doctoris gradum ab inclyta Oxoniensi Aca-
demia ultro oblatum pro incomparabili Nicenae Fidei Defensione
aliisque scriptig nervosis necessariis accepit : Gratiasque haud
multo post pro Judicio Ecclesiae Catholicse ab Episcopo Meldensi
nomine totius Galliae Cleri ad celeberrimum Nelsonum Armigerum
primo discipulum semper amicum transmissas. Tandem studiis
senioque pcene confectus a serenissima Regina Anna ad Episco-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 407
He left behind him but two of those eleven chil- 1710.
dren with which God had been pleased to bless him.
His son Robert, at present rector of Tortworth in
Gloucestershire, and prebendary of the cathedral
church in the same county f, married Rachel, the
daughter of Edward Stephens, of Cherington in the
county of Gloucester, esq. and of Mary, the daugh
ter of sir Matthew Hale, late lord chief justice of the
king's bench e. His daughter Bridget, since his
death, married to Mr. Edward Adderley, son to the
aforesaid Mary by a former husband11,
palem Menevensis sedem evectus est, quam cum ornaverat qua-
tuor annos et quod excurrit, ad Ecclesiam Sanctorum in coelo tri-
umphantium translatus est, mensis Februarii 17™° A. D. 1709,
setatis 75*°, consecrationis 5to.
Hie quoque sepulta est Brigida uxor, mulier tarn praeclaro con-
juge neutiquam indigna, stirpe sacerdotali orta, filia scil. Alexan.
dri Gregory, A. M. Corinii in agro Glocestrensi olim per multo?
annos pastoris vigilantissimi. In memoriam utriusque suseque gra-
titudinis monumentum hoc pie erexit Josephus Stephens, A. M.
A. D. de Brecon eorum gener, virtutum testis ac cultor (triginta
amplius annos) observantissimus. Ob. i6toNov. A.D. 1712. Jones.~\
{ [He was also chancellor of Christ's college in Brecon, to which
the prebend of Llanbister was attached : he held it from 1706 to
about 1730. Jones.]
g [Their children were Edward Bull, of Tortworth, gent., (who
left one daughter, Mary,) and Rachel who died unmarried. Jones.]
11 [It has been mentioned at p. 399, that the bishop's eldest
daughter Anne married archdeacon Stephens. One of their daugh
ters married Joshua Wharton of Bristol ; another married John
Williams, vicar of Glazbury ; and a third daughter married Wal
ter Chapman, of Dunsborne in the county of Gloucester; whose
grandson Joseph Chapman was president of Trinity college, Ox
ford, from 1776 to 1808; and his great grandson Mr. Joseph
Parker is at present a most respectable bookseller in Oxford.
Jones is inclined to think that one of the bishop's younger sons,
408 THE LIFE OF
Bishop And now that we have attended this very learned
and Pious prelate from his birth to the last period of
his life, let us endeavour in a few words to recapi
tulate the dispersed excellencies of his life; and in
running over his character, strive to copy the ex
ample of those eminent virtues, which in this pat
tern shine brightest for our imitation.
As to his stature, he was rather tall ; and in his
younger years thin and pale, but fuller and more
sanguine in the middle and latter part of his age ;
his sight quick and strong, and his constitution firm
and vigorous, till indefatigable reading and night
studies, to which he was very much addicted, had
first impaired, and at length quite extinguished the
one, and subjected the other to many infirmities;
for his sight failed him entirely, and his strength
to a great degree, some years before he died : but
whatever other bodily indispositions he contracted
by intense thinking and a sedentary life, his head
was always free, and remained unaffected to the last.
He seemed framed by nature for considerable at
tainments, having all those faculties and dispositions
of mind \diich are necessary thereunto, in as great
perfection as most men ever enjoyed them. And
that these rich endowments were not bestowed upon
him in vain, his learned writings have demonstrated
to all the world. In reading of books, his sagacity
was such as that nothing could escape his observa
tion ; and as his reading was great, so his memory
was equally retentive ; he never kept any book of
references or commonplaces, neither did he ever
who was not in orders, settled at Kington, or the neighbourhood,
from whom the Bulls of Durfield were descended.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 409
need any : together with this happy faculty, he was
blessed with another that seldom accompanieth it in
the same person, and that was an accurate and sound
judgment.
As to the temperature and complexion of his body,
that of melancholy seemed to prevail, but never so
far as to indispose his mind for study and conversa
tion ; in the latter of which he would be always
more cheerful and pleasant, when the former had
succeeded to his content. The vivacity of his natu
ral temper exposed him to sharp and sudden fits of
anger, which gave him no less uneasiness than they
did to those persons who were concerned in the
nearest offices about him ; but those fits were of
such short continuance, that the trouble was soon
over, and the goodness and tenderness of his nature
towards all his domestics, at other time sand upon
all occasions, made sufficient amends to them for it ;
besides, his natural passion was so far subdued by
the power of religion, as that an evil word was never
heard to proceed from him, even when he seemed
to be most transported with it. He had a firmness
and constancy of mind, which made him not easily
moved, when he had once fixed his purposes and
resolutions, which is no bad temper, when attended
with such a true judgment as he was master of; but
rather a virtue of nature, which many learned and
good men have been defective in. His natural cou
rage was a happy disposition for that supernatural
grace of true Christian fortitude and magnanimity,
in which he was very eminent, so that the frowns
of great men in power could no more awe him, than
popular clamours could shake his steadfastness.
He had early a true sense of religion upon his
410 THE LIFE OF
mind ; and though he made a short excursion into
the paths of vanity', yet he was entirely recovered a
considerable time before he entered into holy orders,
and yet he was ordained priest at one and twenty.
He was a very hard student for many years; and
though he was not unacquainted with most parts of
learning, yet he chiefly cultivated divinity, to which
he had solemnly dedicated his studies. He so ex
celled in his profession, that he was justly esteemed
one of the greatest divines of the age in which he
lived, and that at a time when it abounded with
great men. He officiated with great reverence and
devotion in all the duties of his holy function. And
when he instructed the people from the pulpit, he
enlightened their understandings, and raised their
affections towards heavenly things. He had a great
love for souls, and a tender compassion for sinners,
which made him never despair of their recovery, nor
neglect such endearing applications as might bring
them to repentance.
Amidst all those extraordinary talents with which
God had blessed him, it never appeared that he over
valued himself or despised others. For though his
natural endowments were of no ordinary size, and
were wonderfully improved by study and application,
yet his great learning was tempered with that mo
dest and humble opinion of it, that it thereby shined
with greater lustre. He abounded in works of cha-
1 [He perhaps was thinking of himself, when he said, " Most
" of us have sinned, or trifled away the best and greatest part of
" our life, before we had well learned the art of living well ; and
" in that part of our lives committed such sins, as all our after-
" piety, were it far greater than it is. can never of itself sufficiently
" expiate." Sermon IX.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 411
rity even beyond his ability ; and wherever he met
with misery and want, they sufficiently endeared the
object. The glory of God and the good of his neigh
bour were always uppermost in his thoughts. His
actions were no less instructive than his conversa
tion ; for his exact knowledge of the holy Scriptures,
and of the writings of the primitive Fathers of the
Church, had so effectual an influence upon his prac
tice, that it was indeed a fair, and entire, and beau
tiful image of the prudence and probity, simplicity
and benignity, humility and charity, purity and piety
of the primitive Christians. During his sickness, his
admirable patience under exquisite pains, and his
continual prayers, made it evident that his mind was
much fuller of God than of his illness ; and he en
tertained those that attended him with such beauti
ful and lively descriptions of religion and another
world, as if he had a much clearer view than ordi
nary of what he believed. In short, He lived the
life of the righteous, and his latter end was like
his.
LXXXI. All that farther remaineth is to lay be- An account
fore the reader some account of the sermons and dis-guj£. °er_
courses of bishop Bull, which are now printed and ^scmir"^
published ; in which I shall endeavour to be the
shorter, because their worth will appear very obvious
to those who are the best judges ; and the Life is
already run out to so great a length, that it is very
necessary to draw to a conclusion. As to the ser
mons, his son, Mr. Robert Bull, as hath been already
hinted, had not only the bishop's leave, but his order
to print them after his death ; so that we may from
thence conclude they had his last hand, and conse-
THE LIFE OF
quently that perfection which belonged to his com
posures. The subjects are reduced to no dependence
upon one another, in the method of ranging them ;
neither was it necessary, since it did not appear that
they were framed with any such prospect. But the
reader will quickly perceive, that they answer the
proper end and design which ought to be kept in
view in all such performances, which is to enlighten
the understanding with the knowledge of some di
vine truth, and to dispose the will to a vigorous and
steady pursuit of those things, which are necessary
on our part to attain everlasting salvation.
The fim There are some points handled in this collection,
which, at first sight, and from a superficial view,
mav ^e thought to border too much upon curiosity;
primitive j^ jf ^jie rea(jer brings that attention and 'serious-
truths.
ness which such subjects require from us, he will
find that these are primitive truths, which have
their proper use and advantage in the conduct of the
Christian life.
The middle As for instance ; he hath not only asserted, but
happiness plainly proved from the holy Scriptures, and the con-
and miser.v- current testimony of the catholic church in the
purest ages, " That the souls of men subsist after
" death, in certain places of abode provided for them
" till the resurrection of their bodies ; and that the
" said intermediate state allotted to them by God is
"• either happy or miserable, as they have been good
" or bad in their past livesk." Now as this is matter
of great terror to all wicked men, who shall imme
diately after death be consigned to a place and state
of irreversible misery, in a dreadful expectation of
k [Sermons II. and III.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 413
greater punishments at the judgment of the great
day; so it affordeth abundance of consolation to
those who die in the Lord, and are entered upon
their rest; not a stupid, insensible rest, but a rest
attended with a lively perception of far greater
joy and delight than this world is acquainted with ;
in a comfortable hope of a large increase of happi
ness at the second coming of the Lord of glory.
But if there was no other use to be made of this
doctrine, but to guard us from the corruptions of
popery, I should think it established to very good
purpose. And certainly it appeareth very manifest,
that if it was a part of the primitive faith to believe,
that the souls of the best of men subsisted after
death in separate places of rest and refreshment,
and did not enjoy the beatific vision till after the
resurrection of their bodies ; I say, it is evident from
this principle, that the foundation for the invocation
of saints is perfectly overthrown ; for they are repre
sented to us by our adversaries, of the Roman com
munion, as seeing all things in specula Trinitatis ;
and we are encouraged by them from that motive to
offer up our prayers, and to make our addresses to
the saints ; so that if they are not admitted as yet to
read in the glass of the Trinity, they have, according
to this principle, no way of knowing those prayers
which are made to them.
Again, if it be true that the souls of the righteous,
being purified by the blood of the Lamb, do after
death subsist in certain mansions of happiness till
the resurrection ; then what foundation can there be
for any such fire of purgatory as is pretended, for
the purgation of the spirits of the faithful, by the
church of Rome ? Or what grounds can there be for
414 THE LIFE OF
that furnace, which she hath heated as necessary to
purify almost all that go out of this life, though with
the sign of faith ; for a purgatory, the pains whereof
are by many of her divines represented to us as
equal to those of hell, their duration only excepted ?
or for such prayers for departed souls, as tend to
supplicate their deliverance from a place of grievous
torment? those of the ancient church being only
for such who were at peace, and who rest in
Christ; but they who are exposed to the pains of
purgatory cannot certainly be said to enjoy those
advantages.
The doc- This learned divine had, in his answer to the
trine of
the CM- bishop of Meaux's queries, asserted the doctrine of
sacrifice, the eucharistico.1 sacrifice ; that it was an oblation of
bread and wine instituted by Jesus Christ, to repre
sent and commemorate his sacrifice upon the cross ;
and that its being representative and commemo
rative no more hindered it from being a proper
sacrifice, than the typical and figurative sacrifices of
the old law hindered them from being proper sacri
fices ; for as to be a type doth not destroy the nature
and notion of a legal sacrifice, so to be representative
and commemorative doth not destroy the nature of
an evangelical sacrifice. He thought this doctrine
plain from Scripture, and from the unanimous and
universal tradition of the primitive church ; nay,
that it was not only her language, but her avowed
and general practice, to offer up the bread and wine
to God the Father in the Eucharist, as an oblation
appointed by our Saviour Christ, to commemorate
the oblation of himself upon the cross, and as repre
sentative of that full, perfect, and sufficient sacrifice
for the sins of the whole world.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 415
Now in his sermon concerning the antiquity and
usefulness, &c. of common prayers1, he observeth
the wonderful consent of all the Christian churches
in the world, however distant from each other, in
the prayer of oblation in the Christian sacrifice of
the holy Eucharist. He assureth us, all the ancient
Liturgies agree in this form of prayer, almost in the
same words, but fully and exactly in the same sense,
order, and method. " Which," saith he, " whoever
" attentively considereth, must be convinced, that
" this order of prayer was delivered to the several
" churches, in the very first plantation and settle-
" ment of them. Nay, it is observable, that this
" form of prayer is still retained in the very canon
" of the mass at this day used in the church of
" Rome, though the form doth manifestly contradict
" and overthrow some of the principal articles of
" their new faith. For from this very form, still
" extant in their canon, a man may effectually refute
" those two main doctrines of their church, that of
" purgatory, and that of transubstantiation." The
antiquity of this prayer of oblation is a very good
argument, among many others, that the doctrine of
the Christian sacrifice was taught to the several
Christian churches in their first plantation, and con
sequently was in that scheme of Christian doctrines
once delivered to the saints. Now as this notion of
the Eucharist is founded upon Scripture, and runneth
through all the great writers of the first three ages ;
as it is highly honourable to God, and no less com
fortable to all devout Christians; so it hath this
advantage, that it secureth us a bulwark against
1 [Sermon XIII.]
416 THE LIFE OF
those innovations of the Church of Rome which
relate to this primitive doctrine. The popish sacri
fice of the mass supposeth the oblation of the same
body of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ which
suffered upon the cross, and consequently, that it
propitiateth by its own virtue and merit ; whereas
according to the primitive doctrine, though the
Eucharist be a proper sacrifice, yet it is only repre
sentative and commemorative of that sacrifice upon
the cross ; and it renders God Almighty propitious
to us, only as it represents and communicateth the
benefits of the great sacrifice ; and consequently, as
long as it is believed to be but representative, it is
impossible it should be the thing itself.
If this doctrine had been more universally re
ceived among those who have reformed from the
Church of Rome, there had not been such a stum-
blingblock laid in the way of those, who have been
inclined to embrace the protestant communion. And
I can assure my reader, from good authority, which
hath been already quoted by considerable authors,
that a person of great quality in France hath been
kept back for no other cause from coming to the
Church of England, but that he is told, SHE HATH
NO SACRIFICE; to which his learned correspondent
here, who is one of the French ministers, in answer
assured him, that the bishops and clergy of the
Church of England freely teach the doctrine of the
eucharistical sacrifice, as it was taught and practised
in the purest ages of the catholic church.
The doc- Another subject, which our author hath treated
trine of an- . , 1-1 r»
gets, and with great accuracy and judgment, is the doctrine of
£e )f angels™, a most noble part of the creation ; millions
n> [Sermon XL]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 417
of which glorious creatures are not only subject to
the Majesty of the divine empire, but are also in
struments of his providence in governing the world,
as well as bright examples set before us, to raise us
to such a zealous service of God, as is performed in
heaven. Their existence is proved from reason and
Scripture, an account is given of their creation, and
of the apostasy of many of them from the institutes
of their great Creator. The nature of the holy an
gels, and their state and condition in regard to God,
is fully described, as well as their office in reference
to good men, being appointed by God as the min
isters of his special providence towards the faith
ful ; and farther it is shewn, wherein the angelical
ministry for the good of the faithful doth consist ;
and how it is abused by those who apply to them as
intercessors and advocates with God. The useful
thoughts which arise from the consideration of this
subject are awful apprehensions of the majesty of
God at all times, but more especially in our solemn
approaches to him ; circumspection and caution in
all our behaviour, even in our most secret retire
ment ; great humility and reverence when we ap
pear in his presence ; a profound sense of God's great
goodness to the sons of men, and of the happy estate
of all the faithful ; and lastly, diligence and zeal in
serving the great God of heaven arid earth.
In his sermon concerning the blessed Virgin, " he The title
asserts and vindicates her peculiar title of THE „/ cod'&s
MOTHER OF GOD ; which was not invented by^
the Fathers of the third general council at Ephesus
convened against Nestorius, but approved by them
n [Sermon IV.]
E e
418 THE LIFE OF
as what belonged to her, since it was the language
of Scripture, and the style of the apostolical age.
But he sheweth the true significancy of the appel
lation, by proving that this title doth not at all infer
any right the blessed Virgin hath to our religious
adoration ; for the ancient doctors of the church,
when they contested with heretics concerning it,
designed not by that so much to advance the honour
of the blessed Virgin, as to secure the real and in
separable union of the two natures in Christ ; and to
shew that the human nature which Christ took of
the holy Virgin never subsisted separately from the
divine person of the Son of God.
These instances are sufficient to convince us, that
these sermons may serve us as a touchstone to dis
tinguish primitive doctrine from modern errors which
have been built upon them ; and that we ought not
to sacrifice truth to those abuses to which it hath
been exposed.
The second The second use which I humbly conceive may be
use of the . - - .
sermons is made of the sermons, is m reference to the candi-
youn/ M dates of holy orders, since if I mistake not, they are
preachers. framec] as a verv pr0per model, both as to style and
method, for their treating any subject of divinity :
and it is of no small advantage to those who aim at
any considerable attainment, to propose to them
selves some excellent pattern for their imitation.
His style is strong and manly, but yet plain and in
telligible; he abhorred all affectations of pompous
rhetoric, and yet expresseth himself with great spirit
and life ; his words seem chiefly chosen to clothe his
masterly sense with clearness and propriety. The
great aim of his sermons is to infuse into the hearts
of Christians right apprehensions of the doctrines of
DR. GEORGE BULL. 419
Christianity, and therefore he deduceth them from
Scripture, and the purest ages of the church ; and at
the same time endeavours to make such an impres
sion upon their minds, that they might pursue their
duty with some warmth ; which he doth with so
much more authority by how much it appeareth that
lie was affected himself with what he delivered to
others. But I shall not enlarge upon this subject
farther than to recommend to the reader the follow
ing letter of Dr. Lupton, who hath handled this mat
ter with great exactness. He preacheth at present
one of the most celebrated lectures in London with
such an universal approbation, that those who op
posed his coming into that post declare themselves
in the first rank of his admirers. This learned, ju
dicious, and pious divine, was early formed under
bishop Bull : the first-fruits of his ministry in the
church were in the station of his curate, whereby he
enjoyed all those advantages which he recommends
with so good a grace to all other candidates of divi
nity ; and the world now perceiveth the admirable
use he made of such an excellent pattern, since he is
thereby himself become a fit model for the preachers
that are rising in this generation °. Besides, his inti
mate knowledge and acquaintance with bishop Bull's
method qualified him to make the truest judgment
of the excellency of his sermons, which was the rea
son of my application to the worthy doctor ; upon
which account I persuade myself I shall have the
thanks of the judicious reader, when he shall have
perused the answer which the doctor was pleased to
write me upon that occasion.
0 [Birch, in his Life of Tillotson, seems to hint that this high
encomium was not merited.]
E e 2
420 THE LIFE OF
SIR,
Dr. Lup- YOU are pleased to demand my thoughts of
ton s letter •
to Mr. bishop Bull. I do not remember any remarkable
Nelson,
concerning passage in his life, but what is already laid before
sermons.5 you by other hands.
It is a great satisfaction to me, upon many ac
counts, that his sermons will be published, and par
ticularly for this reason, that they will be, in several
respects, an excellent model to be observed by young
clergymen in writing sermons. He abhorred affecta
tion of wit, trains of fulsome metaphors, and nice
words wrought up into tuneful, pointed sentences,
without any substantial meaning at the bottom of
them. lie looked upon sermons consisting of these
ingredients, which should be our aversion, and not
our aim, as empty, and frothy, and trifling, as incon
sistent with the dignity of serious and sacred things,
and as an indication of a weak judgment ; for he
was not so censorious as to imagine, either that the
authors of them do seek the praise of men more than
the praise of God, or that they do, out of vanity,
attempt to make up the real want of good sense, by
a show of good words.
Indeed true wit, justly applied, doth deserve the
utmost praise, in sermons as well as in other dis
courses : and yet there are many instances of wit,
properly so called, to be found in sermons, which
ought not by any means to appear there. In saying
this, I do not reflect particularly upon the sermons
of any one author, but upon this general rule, well
known to every judicious clergyman, that whatso
ever instance of wit, though pure, doth affect the
imagination alone, or doth in any respect divert the
mind from a religious disposition, ought not to be
DR. GEORGE BULL.
admitted into religious discourses, because it is re
pugnant to the end and design of them, and prevents
their proper effect. That which would justly chal
lenge the utmost applause in common conversation,
or upon the stage, may with equal justice be ex
ploded from the pulpit. The proper use even of
true wit doth require the very best judgment : and
in both did this learned prelate excel, though he
used the first very sparingly in his sermons ; but the
second was abundantly demonstrated in every one
of them. For every one comprised the principal
truths which belonged to the subject, and those were
ranged into the most natural and easy order, illus
trated with the utmost clearness, confirmed with the
utmost strength of reasoning, and expressed in the
most plain and significant words. And such a rich
vein of piety did run through the whole, as would
have rendered it acceptable and delightful to any
man, who is sincerely religious, though it were not
attended with those shadows of beauty and orna
ment, which are too often thought to be the best
parts of a sermon.
Fineness of language and brightness of thought,
so much talked of, are very agreeable, and highly to
be esteemed, when they are enlivened and actuated
by a spirit of piety : but when this is wanting, the
brightest discourse will leave men void of spiritual
understanding ; for there is natural understanding,
and there is spiritual understanding. A sermon
may be very ingenious throughout, and therefore
heard or read with all that kind of pleasure which
ingenious writings are wont to give us, though it
may not in the least contribute to the knowledge
of any one religious truth, or to the regulation of
422 THE LIFE OF
any one passion. And if another sermon is so hap
pily managed, that it will answer one of the great
ends of preaching, that it is apt either to inform the
judgment, or raise the affections from objects which
are earthly and temporal, to those which are hea
venly and eternal ; that ought to be accounted an
excellent discourse, though it should not be adorned
with artful turns of words, or other marks of wit,
and accuracy of language ; because every perform
ance is more or less perfect, as it is more or less
conducive to its main end. Those therefore who are
censorious enough to reflect with severity upon the
pious strains, which are to be found in St. Chrysos-
tom, bishop Beveridge, or bishop Bull, may possibly
be good judges of an ode or an essay, but do not
seem to criticise justly upon sermons, or to express
a just value for spiritual things.
I shall the more easily hope that you will excuse
me for running such a length in these observations,
because the foundation of them is laid in those
thoughts which you proposed to,
Sir,
Your most affectionate,
humble servant,
Nov- 25> *7«- WILLIAM LUPTON.
LXXXII. As to those discourses which accompany
Hairs dis- the forementioned sermons, the first, relating to the
courses.
And the doctrine of the catholic church for the first three
first, con- f ~, ...
cerning the fiffes oj L lii'istiamty concerning me blessed Trinity,
nity. l~in opposition to Sabellianism and Tritheism, was
drawn up at the request of a person of quality, a lord
of a very eminent character P ; who having seriously
)' [Lord Arundell.]
DR. GEORGE BULL.
considered that controversy at the time when it was
debated between Dr. Sherlock, then dean of St.
Paul's, and Dr. South, found himself not clear in the
sense of the first and purest ages of the church, in
reference to that great mystery. The method his
lordship pitched upon to relieve himself under these
doubts, was to apply to Dr. Bull, that great master
of primitive antiquity ; but his lordship having no
particular acquaintance with the doctor, communi
cated his thoughts to his worthy friend Mr. Arch
deacon Parsons, rector of Odington in Gloucester
shire : this reverend clergyman, being a neighbour,
and intimately known to Dr. Bull, engaged him to
comply with his lordship's request, and to endeavour
to give him that satisfaction, which he had hitherto
in vain sought for. It is true, that the ill state of
Dr. Bull's health did for some time delay that an
swer which his lordship impatiently expected ; but
as soon as the doctor's recovery gave him ability and
leisure to apply his thoughts to that momentous sub
ject, he drew up the short tract which is now pub
lished ; and as soon as he had finished it, he enclosed
it in a letter to Mr. Archdeacon Parsons, in order
that it might be conveyed to my lord, which accord
ingly was done, with the letter which Dr. Bull wrote
to the archdeacon upon that occasion. Which being
communicated to me by the reverend Mr. Doughty,
the lord's chaplain, I insert it in this place as a
proper entertainment for the reader.
Aveniny, Aug. 3, 1697.
DEAR BROTHER,
IT hath pleased God to visit me ever since Easter Dr- Bull's
letter to
last, till within these three weeks, or thereabout, archdeacon
Parsons.
424 THE LIFE OF
with an intermitting fever, which brought me so
low, that my relations and friends almost despaired
of my life. In all that time I was not in a con
dition to read or write, or so much as think of any
thing that requires intenseness of mind : which is
the reason why you have no sooner heard from me.
I desired my son at Oxford to acquaint you with
this a good while ago. I have now, though still in
a weak condition, made a shift to recollect some
thoughts concerning the matter proposed to me,
which I have delivered in the papers now sent you.
Which, when you have perused, and shall think
them worthy of it, you may send to his lordship, (if
it be not too late,) with my obedience and most hum
ble service. His lordship seems desirous to go in a
safe way, between the two extremes of Sabellianism
and Tritheism. I have endeavoured to shew his
lordship that middle way, the way which the pri
mitive catholic church, guided by the holy Scrip
ture, walked in. A way it was plain and easy
enough, till in aftertimes it came to be overrun and
perplexed with scholastic subtleties and hard terms,
as with so many briers and thorns ; and now of late
to be ridiculed by some among us, men of little wit
indeed, but less judgment, and yet of far less ho
nesty ; who may at the same rate (if they will give
their minds to it) expose and explode all that is
sacred, even whatsoever relates to the incomprehen
sible Deity.
What defects there may be in the writing I hope
will be excused, seeing I was forced therein to make
use of a raw youth, the bearer hereof. Whether you
transmit the papers sent to his lordship or no, I de
sire you will take an opportunity of acquainting his
DR. GEORGE BULL. 425
lordship with the condition I have been in, that he
may not think me so rude as to neglect a person of
his right honourable character.
I have a true desire to see you and discourse with
you, especially about our sad and miserable church
of Landaff : and if God permit, I will endeavour
ere long to creep to Oclington, if the busy time of
harvest approaching shall not render my coming
unseasonable. Writing is as yet troublesome to me ;
therefore, to my hearty prayers unto Almighty God
for you and yours, I shall only add this sincere pro
fession, that I am,
Dear sir,
Your very affectionate brother,
friend, and servant,
GEORGE BULL.
This discourse was received by his lordship with
much satisfaction, as appeareth by the following
letter, found among bishop Bull's papers after his
death, and addressed by that person of quality to
Mr. Parsons, rector of Odington.
Load. Aug. 17, 1697.
MY GOOD FRIEND,
MY being out of town is the reason you had no
sooner my acknowledgment of the receipt of yours,
with the enclosed papers, which have given me a
great deal of satisfaction.
Had I been a stranger to Mr. Parsons' s worth,
and the ill usage he has met with in the world, it
would have been more my wonder that so great and
good a man as Dr. Bull should have lain thus long
neglected. Pray let my thanks have the advantage
426 THE LIFE OF
of being presented him by your hands. I am obliged
to you for your kindness in inquiring after my son,
who is now at Wolfenbuttel ; and I hope will at last
prove a comfort to him, who is eternally
Yours,
ARUNDELL.
P. S. I think the hinge whereon the great point
of the Trinity turns, is the true stating of the dis
tinction between nature and person, which I am so
dull as to think is not clearly done by the bishop of
Worcester.
The next discourse, concerning which the reader
concerning may be apt to require some information, is the
versions''1 'fourth, which containeth some Animadversions on a
Treatise of Mr. Gilbert Clerke, entitled, Ante-Nice-
cierke. nismus, so far as the said author pretends to answer
Dr. George Bull's Defence of the Nicene Faith. Now
I must acquaint him, that the manuscript of these
animadversions was found among Dr. Grabe's papers ;
and I was inclined at first to think that Dr. Grabe
was the author of them, because he had undertaken
to answer the treatise upon which the animadver
sions were made. But when I had carefully perused
them, it appeared very evident that they belonged
to Dr. Bull ; for they are composed in his style and
manner of writing, they every where refer to the
Defence of the Nicene Faith, as his own, and the
latter part of them is closed in his own hand-writ
ing : and what puts this matter out of dispute is, that
Dr. Grabe is twice quoted in these animadversions,
once under the character of the most learned Dr. Grabe,
and another time as the author's most learned and kind
friend ; now no disguise could have prevailed upon
DR. GEORGE BULL. 427
that modest humble man to have treated himself
with so much respect (i. All this, I think, is con
firmed by a letter of Dr. Bull to Dr. Grabe, which
was found among the papers of the latter, and is
here offered to the reader, that he may make his
own judgment upon it.
Averting, Jan. 25, 1705^.
WORTHY SIR,
I AM not able to express the grateful sense I Dr- Bull's
letter to
have of your great kindness and condescension, in Dr. Grabe.
taking upon you the trouble of revising, correcting,
perfecting, and adorning, with your learned notes, the
new edition of my works, and particularly in your
ready and voluntary undertaking an answer to the
Ante-Nicenismus. If my poor labours hereafter
prove useful to the church of God, a great share
of the thanks due from men, and of the gracious
reward of our good and merciful God, will be justly
yours. I wish I were able to make you some sen
sible effectual requital. But my poor circumstances
are such that I can return you nothing but my
prayers to God, that he would reward you abun
dantly in this life, and that which is to come. The
short notes and animadversions upon the Ante-
Nicenismus, which I mentioned in my letter to
Dr. Bray, you will certainly receive (if I live) this
day sevennight ; for I will send them by the post
next Saturday. I wish they be such as your judg
ment may approve of. They are perfectly at your
disposal, to do with them as you please. And if
there be any thing in them, which may be of use to
II [The MS. is now in the Bodleian library amongst Dr.Grabe's
papers, and has been collated for the present edition.]
428 THE LIFE OF
you in your answer to the Ante-Nicenismus, I shall
be very glad. Dear sir, farewell, and that God would
bless and prosper you, and your labours, for the good
of his church, is and shall be the daily and hearty
prayer of
Your most obliged and affectionate
friend and faithful servant,
GEORGE BULL.
The book which gave occasion to these anim-
answer to
Dr. Bull, adversions was printed in 1695, with the title of
ni- Ante-Nicenismus, or the Testimonies of the Fathers,
WJIQ wrofe ftefore f/ie Council of Nice, whence may be
collected the sense of the catholic church touching the
Trinity, And at the same time came out a Latin
answer also to Dr. Bull's Defensio Fidei, &c,, both
written by Mr. Gilbert Clerke, who published his
name, as not being ashamed or afraid to own what
he had written, because he took it to be the very
cause of God, and of his unity against all sorts of
Polytheists. These two treatises were accompanied
by a third, without the author's name, called The
true and ancient Faith, concerning the Divinity of
Christ, asserted, against Dr. George Butt's Judgment
of the Catholic Church, &c.
These r three tracts came out together, that so
r Tractatus tres ; quorum qui prior Ante-Nicenismus dicitur ;
is exhibet testimonia Patrum Ante-Nicenorum, in quibus elucet
sensus ecclesise primsevo-catholicfc quoad articulum de Trinitate.
In secundo Brevis Responsio ordinatur ad D.G .Bulli Defensionem
Synodi Nicente, authore Gilberto Clerke, Anglo. Argumentum
postremi : Vera et Antiqua Fides de Divinitate Christi explicata
et asserta, contra D. Bulli Judicium EcdesicE Catholics, &c., per
Anonymum, anno Domini, 1695.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 429
ttie Unitarians might thereby take an occasion to
boast of a complete answer in Latin to all that our
author had hitherto written in this controversy ; for
it was about a year after that the Judgment of the
Catholic Church, &c., had been printed, and received
generally with great applause, that these were pub
lished.
The Ante-Nicenismus is not indeed a direct an
swer to Dr. Bull ; for it may be doubted whether
Mr. Clerke had ever once read the doctor's Defence
of the Nicene Faith ; or even so much as looked
into it, when this book was by him compiled ; but it
seemeth to be chiefly in imitation of the Irenicum
IrenicoTum of Zuickerus and the Nucleus of San-
dius, with a design to shew, if possible, the consent
of the primitive writers before the determination of
the council of Nice for the opinion which he had
embraced. Now it appears, that after Mr. Gilbert
Clerke had printed his Ante-Nicenismus, yet not
improbably before it was published ; and after that he
had made some additions thereto, concerning Clemens
Alexandrinus, from the Paris edition of his works
just then come to his hands, by way of supplement
to the said Ante-Nicenismus, or by way of intro
duction to that tract joined to it ; which additions
are therefore placed in the beginning of his Brevis
Responsio ; yea, even before any the least notice is
taken of our author, or what he had written on that
subject ; Mr. Clerke being s upbraided by one of his
s Post hsec de Clemente Ante-Nicenismo addita procuravi
mihi doctissimi viri D. Georyii Bulli Defensionem Fldei Nicenae,
quam totam diligenter perlegi, eoque diligentius, quoniam amicus
quidam exprobavit mihi quod scriberem tali et tanto viro fere
penitus inconsulto. Brevis Respons. p. 77.
430 THE LIFE OF
friends for so rashly adventuring to write on this
subject, without first consulting or examining well
what so great a man as Dr. Bull bad been able to
say thereupon ; then procured, as he saith, the doc
tor's Defence of the Nicene Faith, and carefully
read it through, which he did purely from the re
commendation of that friend, not upon any desire of
his own for fuller satisfaction in this matter ; he
taking it for granted that Dr. Bull, in the last sec
tion of his Defence, which is concerning the subordi
nation, had yielded great part of the question up to
the Unitarians ; and thence doth seem to have been
perfectly unacquainted with the very book he had
undertaken to answer, till he had finished the better
half of his task ; as may presently be seen by cast
ing but an eye upon these two tracts, if that they
may not rather be considered as two parts only of
the same work.
The man- LXXXIII. After Mr. Clerke had read over Dr.
ner of Mr.
cierke's Bull's book upon his friend's persuasion, he con-
theUmtari- tinned still firm to his former opinion, and not to be
the* doctor* moved from what he had written; pretending that
he saw not any reason why he should expunge so
much as one line out of that collection he had made
of the testimonies of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, from
whence he had given it the title of Ante-Nicenism.
Though he Acknowledged Dr. Bull at the same
time to be far his superior in the writings of the
ancient Fathers, and that he wanted neither industry
nor sagacity, or acuteness, to read and judge of them
as he ought, besides several other advantages that
* Brev. Resp. p. 78.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 431
were possessed by him. Notwithstanding which he
made no doubt, but that he should be able to defend
what he had written, and to justify those testimonies
which he had brought out of the Fathers, as depend
ing upon the supposed goodness of his cause and the
power of truth.
And he accuseth all the Trinitarians, both papists
and protestants, for pretending to have all the primi
tive Fathers on their side in the article of the Tri
nity from the apostles downwards : but excuseth the
Unitarians for being more modest in the matter, and
commendeth them for the only persons who have in
genuity enough to own frankly that the ancient ec
clesiastical writers do not so wholly agree with them.
Nay, he sayeth, that these Unitarians are unani
mously agreed to dispute against those primitive
doctors even before the council of Nice, who took
up their notions concerning Christ according to him,
not from the Scriptures, but from their own imagin
ations, and from the philosophy in which they had
been before instructed. And yet nevertheless he
and his companions value themselves, that the doc
tors of the three first centuries were generally of the
same opinion with themselves, as holding the Father
only to be the most high God. However Justin
Martyr cannot escape being pelted at (a certain
mark he was not of the same opinion with them)
for an innovator ; nor indeed any of those whom he
is pleased to name the philosophical doctors, who
are here represented by him as the great corrupters
of the Gospel, and introducers of paganism into the
church.
Thus are the venerable doctors of the first ages of
Christianity dressed up by him, so as they may be
432 THE LIFE OF
exposed for weak and insufficient evidences of the
Christian faith, and at the very time too, that an
appeal is pretended to be made to their authority.
For it is pretended by this writer, that these primi
tive divines, most of whom sealed with their blood
that faith which they delivered down to us, were
no better than half Christians ; who had taken up
their notions concerning* the Son of God, not from
Christ himself, or his apostles, but from their own
fancies and the school of Plato ; and that what they
had been taught in the academy of this philosopher,
was by them obtruded as matter of faith upon the
people; to the fulfilling hereby the divine predic
tions in the mystery of the great apostasy, by their
causing thus the Christian church to depart from
the original simplicity of the faith. And moreover
he boasteth that there were great number of the
Unitarians, who lived near the days of the apostles,
and were likewise esteemed great philosophers and
mathematicians; the names of several of whom he
reciteth, and they are either such as apostatized
from Christianity to Judaism, or corrupted the Christ
ian faith by introducing novel heresies, or having
formerly denied the deity of our Saviour, returned
afterwards to the orthodox communion, as did Na-
talis and Beryllus.
It is his opinion, that the doctrine of the Trinity,
as explained by the orthodox, is a branch of uMon-
tanism, and that Tertullian, after he had been in
structed by Montanus, invented a new rule of faith,
by which he laid the foundation of Athanasianism.
Wherein he hath followed Schlictingius, who was
u Ante-Nicenismus, p. 23, 24.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 4-33
the first that started this charge, and attempted to
prove it in the xbook he wrote against Dr. Meisner,
an eminent Lutheran divine, concerning the Trinity,
and other matters of highest importance. And here
upon he calleth Tertullian the ^new Trinitarian
with great indignation, and also the father of the
Trinitarians; as if the Trinitarian scheme were
originally nought but an enthusiasm of Montanus
and his prophetesses dressed up by this his disciple.
And that he might expose the divine economy of
the ever-blessed Trinity, by which the Father is
conceived as the fountain and original with respect
to the Son and Spirit, for an enthusiastic jargon ; he
will allow our great defenders of the catholic doc
trine in this point no better appellation than that of
our Fontanists and Montanists. For, as he sup-
poseth the Platonic and Arian Trinity to have been
chiefly the innovation of Justin Martyr ; so he fanci-
eth the Nicene and Athanasian Trinity to have
been principally derived from Tertullian after that
he was infected with the Cataphrygian heresy ; and
that the doctrine particularly of the Son's consub-
stantiality with the Father, and the coeternitij con
sequent from it, was taken up from the reveries of
those fanatics.
But after all, Mr. Clerke would seem so generous
as even to zgrant to Dr. Bull both the consubstan-
tiality and coeternity, if the doctor would rest satis
fied therewith, and not level his darts, as he doth
x De S. S. Trinitate, de moralibus N. et V. Test, prseceptis, ac
disputatio adversus Balth. Meisner, vide Prsefat.
y Multa id genus habet hie novus Trinitarius et Trinitariorum
Pater. Ante-Nicen. p. 25.
z Brevis Respons. p. 100. and 78, 79.
F f
434 THE LIFE OF
every where throughout his book, against the Unita
rians, for not owning Christ to be the most high
God, and to have the same numerical essence with
the Father ; yea, he is content that his Unitarian
brethren should not only acknowledge him as God,
but as the great God also, and even as God over
all, blessed for ever. Nay, he maketh no manner
of doubt of their allowing him these titles : so that
where any of these occur, either in the sacred writers,
or in the primitive monuments of Christianity before
the council of Nice, as applied to Christ, they shall
make no scruple of receiving them, and freely using
them with respect to him ; but all this while con
tinue as wide as ever from the sense the Trinita
rians put on those words, who understand them in
their proper signification. Whereas he will have
them understood always appellatively ; that is, in
the same sense as angels and earthly princes have
the appellation of gods. Thus Christ they will
vouchsafe to own may be called so with respect to
us, or as he is the Christ, or anointed of God, and
our Lord: and that he is a great God: above all
other made or called gods, and by reason of that
majesty and divinity which he hath obtained by
the gift of God, being exalted to sit at his right
hand, may be esteemed God over all, and therefore
by us blessed for ever. This is his short way to
get rid of Dr. Bull's Fathers, but more particularly
of Clemens Alexandrinus, who is very troublesome
to him, and cost him much pains before this expe
dient was invented.
There is also one thing more remarkable in Mr.
Clerke's answer, and is, I think, his own invention ;
at least he is very fond of it as such, for it runneth
DR. GEORGE BULL. 435
almost quite through his book, and the main stress
of his arguments against the doctor turneth upon it.
This is the distinction of high sense and low sense :
according to which, he hath laid it down for a foun
dation, that all the high expressions, which are
found either in the Scriptures or the Fathers, de
noting a divine and supereminent character, are
differently to be understood ; that is, they must
alwrays be taken by us in the high sense, when the
Father is spoken of, and in the low sense, when the
Son is meant. By the help of this distinction it
was, he thought, easy for him to bear down all the
testimonies, though never so plain, that could be
brought against him by Dr. Bull, or any other. Let
it suffice to have given this short account, both of
his Ante-Nicenism, and his Answer to Dr. Bull ; to
whose learned and judicious animadversions, con
tained in the fourth Discourse, both in Latin and
English, the reader is referred for his full satisfac
tion ; though the whole scheme is so precarious and
inconsistent, that it doth not appear capable of
doing any great mischief.
This Mr. Gilbert Clerke was the son of Mr. John Some ™-
Clerke, schoolmaster of Uppingham in Rutland. He life and
was admitted into Sidney college at Cambridge in Mr. Gilbert
the year 1641, being then scarce of the age Of(lerke'
fifteen ; seven years after this he was made fellow
of the house, having taken the degree of master of
arts. After three years more, being then about
five and twenty, he received presbyterian orders,
and his allowance in the college thereupon was aug
mented, as their statutes require for those who are
ordained priests. The next year he was created
proctor of the university. He left his fellowship
F f 2
436 THE LIFE OF
after the commencement 1655, refusing to take his
degree of bachelor in divinity, to which the statutes
obliged him. The reason of his retiring so from the
college, and refusing to take that degree, was doubt
less upon the account of his principles, of which he
was much suspected, but never in the college con
victed, as 1 could ever hear. His learning lay
chiefly in the mathematics, but he was also esteem
ed a very good Grecian, and a great Scripturist.
He chiefly consulted the modern critics, when he
read the Bible, not omitting the Polonians, or else
trusted to his own invention and sagacity in that
part of divinity, without ever advising with the
ancients, of whom he had a very low esteem. He
thought the controversy between us and the church
of Rome not worthy his study ; because the errors
of the papists seemed to him so gross and palpable,
as not to need it. He betook himself therefore to
read the Socinian writers, whence he became, in the
main, a Socinian ; yet he did not symbolize with
them in their errors, touching the divine attributes ;
upon which account he would sometime say he was
no Socinian. Some also, to whom he was personally
known, have excepted the point of the satisfaction,
for he seemed indeed to have had some particular
notions of his own about this matter. He was a
man of an open and frank disposition, but withal
too bold, and easily to be heated ; otherwise, the
conduct of his life was sober and regular, not ble
mished with any remarkable immorality, but rather
abounding with good works, which he earnestly
pressed. He was very busy and zealous, in defend
ing those new principles which he had taken up,
and which the gross absurdities of the antinomian
DR. GEORGE BULL. 437
system, then much in vogue, had probably contri
buted more than a little to fling him into. After
that he quitted the university, he went and lived
very retired in Northamptonshire, and his elder bro
ther dying about that time, an estate came to him
of 4sOl. a year, which was looked upon by his friends
as a providential blessing to him, and prevented his
wanting. He was, for certain, an excellent mathe
matician ; his book upon Mr. Oughtred's Clams a
being much valued by the ablest judges in that part
of learning. But it is the opinion even of some of
his friends, that he was not so thoroughly versed in
the Arian controversy, about which he engaged. It
appears, that Mr. Clerke did not long survive this
his answer to Dr. Bull ; for within three years after
the edition of it, I find his name and character in
a certain bSocinian pamphlet, as some time before
dead, with several others, who had maintained in
this kingdom the cause of the Unitarians. The sub
stance of that imperfect and anonymous tract, printed
against Dr. Bull's Judgment of the Catholic Church,
&c., will be found sufficiently answered in that book
of the Primitive and Apostolical Tradition., &c.,
which Dr. Bull published against Dr. Zuicker, upon
whose principles that writer buildeth very much ;
and which was the last of all the Latin works of
our author, published in his lifetime.
LXXXIV. The fifth and last discourse, which T^ fifth,
is now printed, and entitled, Concerning the first concerning
a [Clavis Mathcmatica, 1648: dcnuo limata, sive potius fabricata,
1652.]
b The Grounds and Occasions of the Controversy concerning
the Unity of God, &c., 4to. 1698. p. 17.
438 THK LIFE OF
the state of Covenant, and the State of Man before the Fall,
the Fau,&.c. according to Scripture, and the Sense of the pri
mitive Doctors of the Catholic Church ; was drawn
up by our learned author many years ago, and, as
near as I can guess, about the time that he was en
gaged in the controversy tot justification*. It plainly
appeareth, that it cost him a great deal of labour
and study, and he seemed, upon some occasions, to
express himself with some favour towards it. For
having lent it to a certain person, whose name he had
forgot, it was lost for many years, and recovered by
the following accident. A neighbouring clergyman
dying, Mr. Stephens, son-in-law to the bishop, bought
part of his books, and among his pamphlets found
this treatise, which he immediately brought to the
author, who could not forbear declaring his satis
faction for the recovery of that, upon which he had
bestowed no small pains. After this, it was read by
some considerable clergymen in that neighbourhood,
and at last communicated to his particular friend
Dr. Fowler, the present lord bishop of Gloucester, in
whose hands it had lain so long, that his lordship,
when I applied to him upon that account, had
entirely lost any remembrance of it. But he was
pleased very readily to consent to the proposal I
made, of having his manuscripts searched by some
able and faithful person ; this happily answered my
expectation, and in a few days the manuscript was
brought me, writ all in Dr. Bull's own hand, with
which I was very well acquainted.
0 [It was written not long before the publication of the Exa-
men Ccnsurtf, in answer to Truman's work, which appeared in
1671. (See p. 141.) The discourse was therefore composed be
tween 1671 and 1675. Ejcamen, Append, ad Animudv. 17,6.]
DR. GEORGE BULL. 439
Whatever sentiments I might have upon theCommuni-
„ . -r MI- cated to Dr.
perusal or this excellent treatise, 1 was unwilling toiiickes.
trust my own judgment in a matter of that nature, raetecr.a"
and therefore I immediately communicated the work
to my very learned and worthy friend Dr. Hickes,
that great master of ecclesiastical antiquity, and the
most considerable reviver of primitive theology that
hath appeared in our time. Though he is admirably
skilled in other parts of useful learning, yet he hath
laboured with great success in d untrodden paths, a
certain mark of a great genius, whereby the utmost
parts of Europe will have an occasion to celebrate
his profound erudition. But he excelleth in his own
profession, having built his study of divinity upon
the holy Scriptures, and the primitive Fathers of
the church, as the best expositors of those sacred
writings; and hath thereby created such a regard
to antiquity in the generation of young divines, that
are now rising among us, that we may hope to see
the next age preserved from the infection of those
latitudinarian principles, which have too much pre
vailed in this. His readiness to communicate his
knowledge draweth an application to him from men
of the greatest figure for their talents, and renders
his friendship a true and valuable blessing. But
above all, the solid and substantial piety of his con
duct maketh his example a constant instruction to
those who live within the reach of it. It was to
this excellent friend, that I proposed the perusal of
bishop Bull's treatise, which I had recovered from
the bishop of Gloucester. I am apt to think the
d Linguarum Vett. Septentrionalium Thesaurus Grammatico-
Criticus et Archeeologicus. Autore Gcorgio Hickesio,, S. T. 1'.
MDCCV. fol. 2 voll.
440 THE LIFE OF
judicious reader will be very well pleased with the
method I took, when he shall have read the learned
answer, which I received from that eminent divine
upon this occasion, which is here inserted for his
edification.
Hampstead, Aug. 5, 1712.
HONOURED SIR,
I TFIANK you very heartily for the entertain-
letter to 1,1.1. i
Mr. Nelson iiient I have had here in reading the enclosed manu-
shop Buffs script, as well as for the great pleasure I had in
fifth dis- reading the same author's most excellent manuscript
course. o
sermons, when I was in Town. I have read it atten
tively twice over with the greatest pleasure ; and I
think it, both as to the learning and solid reasoning
in it, equal to any thing that great man hath writ
ten in either language, and what, I believe, will be
judged by divines as one of the best tracts among
his remains, and as worthy as any of them of his
great name. Before I read it, I was not perfectly
convinced of the truth of his second proposition, viz.
That our first parents, besides the seeds of natural
virtue and religion, and the innocence and recti
tude wherein they were created, were also endowed
with certain supernatural gifts, and powers infused
by the Spirit of God; without which, their natural
powers were of themselves not sufficient to attain
an heavenly immortality. I am not ashamed to
confess, that, like many of my betters in divinity, I
was not settled in the belief of this doctrine, before
I read this discourse ; but now I rejoice in my con
viction of the truth of it : because, as the learned
author observes, it utterly overthrows the Pelagian
heresy, and shews the absolute necessity of divine
DR. GEORGE BULL. 441
grace to fallen man ; without which, it is impossible
for him to attain that righteousness, which, upon
Gospel-terms, is necessary to salvation.
The way he hath taken to prove the doctrine in
his second proposition, will, I hope, convince all
students in divinity, how necessary it is to read the
ancient Fathers, in order downward from the aposto
lical age, and to shew the folly of those men, who
either out of ignorance, or prejudice, or much worse
causes, endeavour by their several ways to weaken
the authority of those primitive divines, and bring
their writings into contempt, because they cannot
stand before them. Accordingly, the men who thus
conspire, as it wrere, to blast them, are of several
classes and sorts. Some speak and write against
them out of malice, as the Pharisees spake against
our Saviour and his miracles ; I mean, those TrpooToro-
KOI rov Zarai/a, the deists, and all other professed ene
mies and ridiculers of revealed religion, to whom the
apostle himself would have said, 0 full of all sub
tlety and all mischief, ye children of the Devil, you
enemies of all righteousness ; will you not cease to
pervert the right ways of the Lord? Others again
speak and write against the Fathers, because their
ancient writings are contrary to the heretical doc
trines and schemes of these our modern Arians, So-
cinians, and Unitarians of all sorts, among whom I
reckon the Quakers, who, as Unitarians, I cannot
but observe, are qualified to make members of the
society that I hear is now a forming, under the pre
tence of advancing Christianity. Next to these I
may reckon the other sects among us, which I care
not to name ; but who are also against the Fathers,
for no other reason, but because their writings bear
442 THE LIFE OF
testimony against them. Just as Mr. Hobbes ob
serves, if reason is against a man, a man will be
against reason. But the adversaries of the Fathers,
who are most to be deplored, are those who endea
vour to depreciate their writings, merely because
they are contrary to some opinions which they have
had the misfortune to imbibe from the systematical,
controversial, or other writers since the reformation.
But, as the learned bishop saith, I hope the inge
nuous among this sort of their adversaries will learn
from his works, and particularly from this discourse,
" of the State of Man before the Fall, the modesty
" of submitting their judgments to that of the catho-
" lie doctors, where they are found generally to con-
" cur in the interpretation of Scripture, how absurd
" soever that interpretation may at first appearance
" to them seem to be."
Among these despisers and disparagers of the
ancient Fathers are those bold (and I will add igno
rant) men to be found, who, as this great divine
speaks, fasten this charge upon them, namely, that
they taught the same doctrine, which the church
afterwards condemned in Pelagius, who asserted a
sufficiency in man's natural powers, even in his lapsed
estate, without the grace of God, to perform those
things, which conduce to eternal life promised in the
Gospel. Among our modern writers, he only men
tions Mr. Baxter, for this bold and groundless as
sertion ; of which, though the utter falseness doth
so plainly appear, from what the bishop hath cited
out of the Fathers, to prove his second proposition ;
yet for a farther vindication of those primitive guides,
and lights of the church, from this unjust aspersion,
as well as to vindicate the doctrine of divine grace,
DR. GEORGE HULL. 443
and its antiquity, give me leave, sir, to present you
with some clear testimonies to the contrary, out of a
few manual companions, which, with some others,
I seldom leave behind me, when I retire into the
country.
I will begin with St. Clemens Romanus, in his
Epistle to the Corinthians, Oxford edition, p. 16. $. 8.
[p. 152. ed. Coteler.] Ol \eiTovpyol rtj? -%apiTO? TOV
Qeou, K. r. A. The minifiters of the grace of God spake
of repentance by the Holy Ghost e. From hence T
proceed, though a little out of the order of time, to
Clemens Alexandrinus, in his book entitled, TV? 6
o-co^o /mei'09 TrXouo-to?, which was published at Oxford
1683, with an appendix of fragments added to it by
the editor of immortal name, Dr. Fell, bishop of Ox
ford. The first testimonies out of him shall be those,
in which he mentions the word XAPI2, GRACE, as
in his prayer or hymn (EI2 TON IIAIAAFQrON)
to God, in honour of his Master. Christ, p. 155, 156.
[p. 313. ed. Potter.]
Avros (<i)^v re rrjv 0-771; d<r<£aA<3s dei
XAPIN re rr]V crrjv drr^aAws Trdpacr^f
ITotety re, /cat ras (ras Ae'yety 0eicis
Alvelv dei' <re, /cat TOV eK 2oS* Travcrotybv *This epi-
Tov 2oi (Tvvoi'Ta Kal Trapovra 2ot AOFON. .riven to
GOD by
Philo, in
0 sovereiqn Lord of mortal men, the (river and his hook
/ / 77 J J £* 11 ,/.' deOpificio
bestower oj all good and profitable things, grant Mundi.
e [This quotation is not really to the purpose : it should be
translated, The ministers of the grace of God by the inspiration of
the Holy Ghost spake of repentance.']
1 [We should perhaps read avros re far)t>, KU\ Ka\<as dt\ /SioCy.]
444 THE LIFE OF
that I may live the life which thou hast given me
in safety, and give me thy grace, without blame, to
practise and preach thy divine word, (and) always
to praise thee, and sthe OMNISCIENT AOFO2, who
is of thee, who is coexistent with thee, and who is
present to thee. So p. 41, 42. [c. 16. p. 944.] Oyrco?
%$*) TOV 2<wr»7jOO9 ciKovcrai Ae-yo^ro?, Sevpo aicoXovOei Mo<.
yap ai'ro? ^rj TW KaQapuJ Tyv KapSiav 'ytVerat' e<V
pTOv ^Isw^tjv, Qeou XAPI2 ov Trapenr^verai. So
(presenting an humble and unprejudiced soul] he ought
to hearken to our Saviour, speaking thus : Come,
and follow me. For he is the way to him, who hath
a pure heart ; but into an impure soul the grace of
God doth not enter. The like expression hath that
great Jewish divine, the author of the Book of Wis
dom, [i. 4.] EiV KctKOTe^voi' '^fv^rji' OVK eiWAeiVeTcu ^/cxpla.
Wisdom shall not enter into a malicious soul. For
the doctrine of divine grace was a Jewish, as well
as a Christian doctrine, as may be easily proved
from the Old Testament, and the Jewish apocryphal
Fathers, as well as from the New Testament, and
the Fathers of the most early times. But to return
to the word XAPIZ ; you know that, as well as gra
tia, it signifies a free or gratuitous gift, or benefac
tion, from whence ^apl^o/uat signifies to give, or grant
freely, as a benefactor; and therefore the word is
used by Clemens in another place, to signify that
spiritual strength and assistance, given by God to
those who desire to be saved, which we call grace.
Xa'|0i9 is also used for grace by an elder Father;
St. Ignatius, in several of his Epistles, as in that to
£ Or, him who is of thee, him who is coexistent with thee, and
him who is present to thee, the omniscient AOFO2.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 445
the MagnesianS. [c.8. p. 19.] Am TOUTO Kal e
eju.7rveo/u.evoi VTTO Tfjs "^apiTOS avrov, etV TO Tr\rjpo(popri-
Orjvai rovs a-n-eiOouvTas, &c. For tills cause, being
inspired by his grace, they endured persecution, to
persuade unbelievers that there is one God, who hath
manifested himself by Jesus Christ his Son, who is
his eternal Logos, not proceeding from silence ; who
in all things pleased him who sent him. So in his
Epistle to the Church of Smyrna, [c. 11. p. 37.]
Kara OeX^/xa Se Oeou Ka.Tt]^iu>Qrjv, OVK CK ervveifioTO?, aXX'
eK -^dpiros Qeou, r/v eu^o/nai reXe/av /not ^oQrjvai. J3ut
I was made worthy according to the will of God, not
that I ivas conscious (of any worthiness in myself),
but by the grace of God, which I pray may be given
to me in perfection. So in the same Epistle, [c. 9-
p. 37-] TLavra ow vfj.lv ev -^apiTi 7repi<T<Teveru>, Let all
things by grace abound among you. And in the
conclusion, Xa'jot? vij.lv, eXeo?, elprjvti, Grace, mercy, and
peace be to you. So in his Epistle to Polycarp,
[c. 1. p. 39-] ricfjOa/caXw (re ev -^apiri Qeov, rj €v§eSv<rai.
I beseech thee by the grace of God, ivith which
thou art arrayed or endowed. And in that to the
Romans, [in tit. p. 25.] I salute you in the name of
Jesus Christ — who have been perfectly united in
all his commandments, (Tre-TrXrjpui/jicvois xa'j°£TO? 0eoi7
aSiaKp'iTw?,} filled in unity with the grace of God.
Among other Scripture senses of the word, it is
certainly used in this for grace, as in 2 Cor. xii. 9-
Kxu e'tprjKe /mot, 'Apca croi rj ^api? fJ.ov' rj yap Swa/ui?
IJLOV ev aaOeveia TeXeiovrai. And he said unto me, My
grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made
perfect in weakness. And I think it cannot be taken
in any other sense in such apostolical prayers as
these, The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
Gal. vi. 18.
25-
446 THE LIFE OF
ijour spirit ; which is the same as, The Lord
Jesus Christ (by his grace) be with thy spirit, 2 Tim.
iv. 22.
The next noble testimony for grace, which T shall
produce out of my Clemens, is in p. 98. [c. 37. p.
956.] where he saith, that Christ took upon him the
nature of man, and willingly suffered as man. "Iva
TTjOO? r>]v fifierepav avQeveiav, ou? vyonrqa-e, [ACT pt] 9 el? quay
TTjOo? Triv eavTov Svvaftiv avTiju-erpqa-y. That accommo
dating himself to our weakness, whom he loved, he
might proportionally exalt us to his power. So
p. 90. [c. 34. p. 954.] OVK eTrterrayuei/ot 7rt]\iKOv riva
9r)<ravpov ev ocrTpaKivw crKevei jSacrra^o^cej/, Suva/met Qeov
IlaTOO?, KOI ai'/zart Qeov ricu<5o?, /ecu $pocrq> Tlvevju.a.'ros
dylov 7r€piT€T€i^ia-fjLei'Oi ; for so I read it, instead of
7repiTeTei%i(r/j.evov. Being blind, and not understanding
what treasure we carry in an earthen vessel, being
fortified by the power of God the Father, and the blood
of God the Son, and the dew of the Holy Ghost.
So likewise, p. 106. [c. 40. p. 958.] "Ecm /mev ovv aSv-
varov '/<rft>9, a0|0oa)9 ajroKO^sai iraBrj crvvTpcxpa, aXXa
Qeov (Wa/xew?, KOI avOpMTreias //cecr/a?, /ecu a$e
{3oq9eias, Kal eiXiKpivous /meTavotas, Kai (riive^ov
KaropOovvrai. Though it be alike impossible presently
to mortify the passions that are bred up with us ; yet
by the POWER of God, and the supplications of men,
and the help of the brethren, and a sincere repentance,
and continual care, they are rectified. So p. 57.
(]c. 21. p. 947-] 'O ^e Ki^no? onroKpiveTai' SIOTI TO ev
aSvvaTOV, Svvarov Qeu>' TraXtv Kal TOVTO /me-
<pia$ /meo-Tov e<TTiv. OTI /ca$' avTov /u.ev O.O-KWV Kai
ia.7rovoviu.evos a.7ra9eiav avQpwwos, ovSev avvei' eav 8e
0^X09 VTrepeinBviJiWV TOVTOV /ca< otecrTroyoa/fw?, T^
rjKy TIJ<I rov Qeov Swa/mewy TrepiylveTai. (3ov\o/mei>atv
DR. GEORGE BULL. 447
/uei> yap 6 0eo9 raJ? vj/in^af? (rweiriTrvel. ei Se cnroa-Taiev
Tr/$ TrpoOvulas, KCU TO SoQev fK Geov Tlvev/ma (rvvea-raXrj.
TO /wev yap a/coi'Ta? crw^f, ccrTi fiia^ouevov' TO $e
aiy>oi/yueVou?, ^api^ouevov. But tlie Lord answered,
What is impossible with men, is possible with God.
Which (saying) also is full of much wisdom, because
the man, who strives and labours by himself to over
come his affections, profits nothing ; but if he plainly
is very desirous of it, and useth his utmost endeavours
to attain it, he shall attain thereunto by the accession
of God's power, (or strength ;) for God inspires
willing souls ; but if they go off" from their willingness,
the Spirit of God, which was given to them, will
contract itself, (and return.) For to save them who
are unwilling to be saved, is the part of an agent that
useth force ; but to save those who choose salvation, is
(xapifyuevou) the part of one, who freely and kindly
grants his help.
Sir, you cannot but observe here, that though the
doctrine of God's ordinary grace is so clearly ex
pressed in this passage, yet it is as plain against
irresistible grace ; for God, saith he, forces no man,
but only helps the willing; according to that of
St. Ignatius, Epist. ad Smyrn. [c. 11. p. 37-] T
yap oWe?, reX«a KOI (frpovetre. BeXowri yap
evTrpacra-eiv Geo? eroifios eiV TO Trapacr-^eiv. As ye are
perfect, so mind things that are perfect ; for God is
ready to assist you who are willing to do good. But
a plainer passage for grace, and against ordinary
irresistible grace, cannot be found, than this which
follows, p. 25, 26. [c. 10. p. 940.] (EI 0EAEI2
TEAEIOZ TINEZeAI,) OVK apa ™ TeX«oy $v. ovSev
yap reXe/ov reXeiorepov' ical 0&«os TO, et 0eX«f, TO
avre^ovcriov T//? Trpoa-fiiaXeyo/mevris avrw *fyv%fl
448 THE LIFE OF
up f/V f] <HtQe<Tl$ W9 €\€vOep(f>' €7Tl Ge<T>
i, /cat fieo/mevois iV of'TW? W/O9 airrtoy >7
ov yap ANAFKAZEI 6 0eo9, /3/a ^a^
0e<w, aAXa TO?? T^TOi/crt Tropi^ei, Kal TO?? aiTOvari
Kal TO?? KOOVOVCTIV avoiyei. rLit 0eXei? ouv, et OVTWS 6e\eis,
/cat /u^ eavTOV e^aTrara?, KTtjcrai TO evSeov, &C. (IF THOU
WILT BE PERFECT.) //<? w.?«* wo^ r/,5 j/e^ perfect ; for
nothing is perfecter than that which is perfect. And
what was spoken by God, if thou wilt, shelved the
freedom of the soul that discoursed with him. For
man had a power of choosing, as he was free ; hut
giving belongs to God, as he is the Lord. And he gives
to them who are willing, and earnestly strive and pray;
that in this sense their salvation may be owing to
themselves. For God compels none ; for compulsion
agrees not with him ; but he administers to them that
seek, and bestows on them that ask, and opens to them
that knock. If thou wilt therefore, if thou wilt in
good earnest have what thou wantest, and doest not
deceive thyself, &c. These authorities, sir, weigh
more with me, than all the authorities of modern
writers, in behalf of irresistible grace ; which you
see as to ordinary grace at least, was not the divi
nity of the primitive times, though the doctrine of
divine grace was.
You cannot also but observe, how many words
are here significative of grace, as $uva/uus, a-weTmrvcl,
SoOev €K Qeov llvev/ma, and ^api^o/uievou, the word which,
I told you above, my Clemens used in another place.
Here is grace in various terms, and the Spirit of
God the author of grace, mentioned together ; and
as for (&Wyou?,) the Scripture word for grace, that
is also in St. Ignatius, as in that passage of his
DR. GEORGE BULL. 449
Epistle to the Ephesians ; [c. 11. p. 14.] Let me be
always partaker of your prayers, that I may be
found in the lot of the Ephesian Christians, who rof?
aTTOcrroAo/? TravTore a-vvyvecrav ev Suva/met 'I^crou XjEMOTOU,
always were of one mind with the apostles in the
power of Jesus Christ. So in the conclusion of his
Epistle to the Church of Smyrna ; "Eppaa-Oe /ULOI ev Su-
va/j.ei TIvev/uLctTo?' Farewell, or Be strong in the power
of the Spirit; and afterward, "E|0p«<r0e ev -^apirL Oeov,
Farewell in the grace of God. So in his Epistle to
the Romans, [c. 3. p. 26.] Movov /mot <$vt>a/uuv
e<T(a6ev re ical e^coOev, 'iva /my /J.OVQV \eyu>, aXXa KOL
'iva /ut.tj /ULOVOV Xe'yco/jtat Xpi<TTiavo$, aXXa /caJ evpeOco. Only
beg strength for me, both from within and from with
out, that I may not only talk, but resolve; and not
only be called, but be found a Christian. So like
wise in his Epistle ad Smyrn. [c. 4. p. 35.] 'AXX'
eyyvs /mavaipas, eyyvs Geou, /nera^u Otjptwv, /meTn^v Qeov'
/movov ev TU> ovo/maTi ^Itjerov Xpi<rTOv etV TO <rvfj.7raOeiv
avTw TravTO. VTTOfJLZVu), avTOv /u.e evowa/ULOvvTOS, TOV TeXelov
avOpwirov yevofj.evov. When we are near the scaffold,
we are near to God, and all the while we are from
the wild beasts h, so long we are from God ; only I
endure all things for the name of Jesus Christ, to
suffer with him, he strengthening me, who was made
perfect man.
Grace is nlso expressed by the apostle, by the
word dvvafjii?, and fv^wa/movv, Ephes. iii. 16. That
he would grant you, according to the riches of his
glory, (Swa/met KpaTai<09ijvat,) to be strengthened with
might by his Spirit in the inner man, Col. i. 10, 11.
h [Rather, while we are in the middle of wild beasts, i. e. near
to them, «'«» are near to God."]
450 THE LIFE OF
That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all
pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and
increasing in the knowledge of God; (ev Trda-y
Swdfj-ei SvvaiJ.oviJ.evoi) strengthened with all might,
according to his glorious power, unto all patience and
longsujfering with joy fulness. So Phil. iv. 13. Tldvra
la-)(yw ei> TO) ev^vva/jLOvvri /ue XpicrTui, I can do all
things through Christ which strengthened me. To
which I may add, 'Ey(Wa/xou ev Ty -^dptn rfj ev
Xpia-rw 'Itjarov, 2 Tim. ii. 1. where both words are
put together ; Thou therefore, my son, be strong in
the grace that is in Jesus Christ. The next authority
I shall produce for the divine grace is out of Cle
mens, and of the same nature with what I quoted
before out of p. 90. it is p. 105. [c. 40. p. 957.] TOUT'
ea-ri /j.erayvS)vai, This is to repent, to grieve for sins
past, and to beg forgiveness of God for them ; who
only by his mercy can make things done, as if they
had not been done, ' EXeoo T<W Trap avrov /ecu opocrw II m'-
/-taro? a-TraXervJ/cu ra Trpotj/mapTrjiuieva, By the mercy
which is from him, and the dew (that is, the grace) of
the Holy Ghost, to wash away our past offences.
To these may be added those testimonies, which
speak of God and Christ and the Holy Spirit dwell
ing in us, p. 90. [c. 33. p. 954.]
<pa(rt$, eiva e/? TO KOIVOV TOVTO TraiSevrypiov
ovvr]6u>iJ.ev' a\X' evSov 6 /CJOUTTTO? fvoucel Ylartjp,
TOVTOV ITar? 6 inrep f](J.u>v aTToOavutv, Kal jtce'
O-TCI?. This habit (of poverty) with which we are out
wardly clothed, is the occasion of our coming into this
woi*ld, that we may enter into this common school ; but
the Father dwells invisibly within us, and his Son who
died for us, and rose again with us. P. 102. [c. 39-
DR. GEORGE BULL. 451
p. 957.] A» r/9 TO re ?; St* ayvoiav *] Trepla-Tacrtv
aKoixriov, jixera TTJV arcfipayiSa /ecu T>;I' XvTpaxriv 7repnreT>]<;
TOIS a/Jiaf)Tr]iJ.a<JLV, 17 TrapaTTTCo/u-acriv, wg inravrjveyQai re-
\eov' OUTOS KaTe~Y^(piiTTai 7rafTa7ra<r/i/ VTTO TOV Qeov'
Travr\ yap rw /uer' a\r)0eia$ e£ o\r]$ T/?? Kap
•yaj'Tt -TTjOO? TOV Qeov avewyaa-iv at Ovpai, KU\
TjOtcracr/aei/o? Tlar^jO viov aXrjOws /meTavoovvTa. f] Se
fj.GTa.voia. TO /mt]K€Tt TO?? avTOis evo-^ov eivai, aXX' ap^rjv
€Kpi(£a>crai rJy? ^v^?, e(f) o?? eavrov KaTeyvw OdvaTov
. TOVTWV yap avaipeQevTdov, avOts ei$ are 0eo?
If any one, either through ignorance,
or unavoidable misfortunes, after baptism and forgive
ness of sins, falls into sins and iniquities, so as to be
entirely carried away with them ; such an one i<*
utterly condemned by God. But whosoever truly
turns to God with all his heart, has heaven-gates
opened to him, and the Father most gladly receives
his penitent son. Notv a true repentance is a care
never to relapse into the same miscarriages, for which
he has condemned himself worthy of death, but totally
to root them out of his mind. For these being taken
away, God will again dwell in tliee. This doctrine of
the moral shechinah, or of God's and Christ's dwelling
in righteous souls, by the Holy Spirit of grace, is also
most clearly expressed by St. Barnabas in his Epistle,
cap. v. p. 33. [c. 6. p. 19-] Behold therefore, saith he,
we are created anew, as the prophet speaks in another
place ; Behold, saith the Lord, I will take away from
them (that is, from those whom the Spirit of the
Lord foresaw under the Gospel) hearts of stone, and
put into them hearts of flesh, because he was to l>e
manifested in the flesh, KO.\ ev q/u.iv KaToiKeiv, and to
dwell in ?/s. For, my brethren, KaToiKtjTtjpiov
?, the duelling-place of our hearts is
Gg*2
452 THE LIFE OF
TM Kvpica, a holy temple to the Lord. And to the same
purpose in another place, cap. xvi. p. 98. [p. 49.]
Observe how the temple of the Lord is gloriously
built, and learn in what manner we, who have re
ceived remission of our sins, and put our trust in
the name of the Lord, are renovated, or made new,
and created again from the beginning. Because,
ev TW Ka.TOiK)]Tr]piu> rj/uuiv a\tjOu>g 6 0eo? KdTOiKei ev YIIUV,
God truly resides in our dwelling-place, that is, in
us. And again, CO KOI Tro6£>v a-u>6fjvai, /SXeVet OVK els
TOV avOpcaTrov, aXX' et? TOV ev avrw evoiKOvvra, KOI \a\ovv-
Ta ev avro). He that desires to be saved, looks not at
the man, but at him that dwelleth in him, and speak-
eth in him. And, Tour' e<m Trvev/ut-ariKog vaos OIKO§O-
fj.ov/j.evos TW KIYK&>, This is the spiritual temple built to
the Lord. So in the second Epistle, for its great
antiquity, attributed to St. Clemens, [c. 9- p. 188.]
Aei" ovv jj/aa?, a>? vaov 0eou (pvXdarcreiv Tt]v crdpKa. It IS
our duty to keep the body as the temple of God. And
it is an allusion to this doctrine of the moral she-
chinah, or spiritual temple, that our Clemens, in the
46th page, [c. 18. p. 945.] saith, according to the
doctrine of his colleague in the apostleship, that no
one shall be saved or perish, for having a beauti
ful or deformed body, but that he shall be saved
who useth his body chastely, and according to the
laws of God ; but he that hath defiled the temple of
God, him shall God destroy. So St. Pacianus, bishop
of Barcelona, in his Paciani Parcenes. ad Pcenit. Ne
violaveritis (inquit) templum Domini, quod estis vos, et
de fornicatore apostolus dicit, Qui autem templum Dei
violaverit, disperdet ilium Deus.
How this supernatural principle of grace, and the
Holy Spirit, the author of it, was in our first parents
DR. GEORGE BULL. 453
before their fall, and how they lost it by their fall,
and their sinful posterity, in and by them, and how
we are restored to it by the Gospel, is excellently
set forth by the same { St. Pacianus, in his sermon to
i Accipite ergo, dulcissimi, homo ante baptismum in qua morte
sit positus ; scitis certe illud antiquum, quod *Adam terrenae ori- * Clemen*
gini prsestitutus sit, quee utique damnatio legem illi aeternse mortis iu!e^?™c
imposuit et omnibus ab eo posteris, quos lex una retinebat ; hsec DIVES,
mors in genus omne dominata est, ab Adam usque ad Moysen. *c- p.' I2?-
Vise, mquit,
Per Moysen vero unus tantum populus electus est, semen scilicet nils quia in
Abrah.se, si mandata iustitiae servare potuisset. Interea nos omnes v*
amerunt.
sub peccato tenebamur, ut fructus essemus mortis ; siliquarum Sic etiam
escis et porcorum custodiae destinati, i. e. operibus immundis, per^ca'°, .
malos angelos, quibus dominantibus, nee facere licuit nee scire cemur se-
iustitiam. Parere naturalibus dominis res ipsa cogebat. Ab hiscwwrf"!".
peccati si-
potestatibus, et ab hac morte, qualiter liberati sumus, attendite. militudi-
Adam postquam peccavit, (ut retuli,) dicente tune Domino, Terra nem'
es, et in terram ibis, addictus est morti. Haec addictio in genus
omne defluxit : omnes enim peccaverunt, ipsa jam urgente natura,
sicut apostolus dicit. Quia per unum hominem peccatum introi-
vit, et per delictum mors, et sic in omnes homines devenit, in quo
omnes peccaverunt. Dominatum est ergo peccatum, cujus vincu-
lis quasi captivi trahebamur ad mortem ; mortem, scilicet, sempi-
ternam. Hoc vero peccatum ante legis tempora, nee intellige-
batur, sicut apostolus dicit, donee enim lex poneretur, peccatum
in mundo non habebatur, hoc est, non videbatur ; ad legis adven-
tum revixit. Apertum est enim ut videretur, verum frustra, quia
id prope nemo servabat. Dicebat enim lex, Non mcechaberis,
non occides, non eoncupisces, tamen concupiscentia cum omnibus
vitiis permanebat : ita peccatum istud ante legem occulto gladio
interfecit hominem, lege, districto. Quoe igitur spes homini ?
Sine lege ideo periit, quia peccatum videre non potuit, et in lege
ideo quia in id ipsum, quod videbat, incurrit. - Et has sunt
nuptise Domini uni carni conjunctee, ut secundum illud magnum
sacramentuin, fierent duo in came una, Christus et ecclesia. Ex
his nuptiis Christiana plebs nascitur, veniente desuper Spiritu Do
mini, nostrarumque animarum substantise superfuso, et adinixto
protinus semente coelesti, visceribus matris inolescimus, alvoque
454 THE LIFE OF
the catechumens, who wrote before the Pelagian
controversy troubled the peace of the church.
Hearken therefore, my dearly beloved, in what death
man lies before baptism. Surely you know that
old saying, that Adam was doomed to an earthly
original, which condemnation put him under the
law of eternal death, and all his posterity, who were
all subject to one law. This death reigned over the
whole kind, from Adam even to Moses. But by
Moses one people only was chosen, namely, the seed
of Abraham, if they could have kept the righteous
commandments. In the mean time we were all held
under sin, that we might be the fruits of death,
destined to feed on husks, and to keep swine, that
is, to unclean works by the evil angels, who being
our riders, we neither could do nor know what was
right. The condition we were in, forced us to obey
our natural lords. And now hear how we were
delivered from these powers and this death. Adam,
ej'us effugi vivificamur in Christo. Uude apostolus : Primus Adam
in animam viventem, novissimus Adam in Spiritum vivificantem. Sic
general Christus in ecclesia, per suos sacerdotes, ut idem aposto
lus : in Christo autem ego vos genui. Atque ita Christi semen, id
est, Dei Spiritus, novum hominem alvo matris agitatum, et partu
fontis exceptum manibus sacerdotis effundit, fide tamen pvonuba.
Neque enim aut insertus in ecclesiam videbitur, qui non credidit,
aut genitus a Christo, qui Spiritum ipse non recepit. Credendum
est igitur posse nos nasci. Sic enim ait Philippus, Si credis,
potes. Recipiendus est Christus, ut generat, quia Johannes apo
stolus dicit, Quotquot eum receperunt, dedit illis potestatem filios
Dei Jieri. Hi»c autem compleri alias nequeunt, nisi lavacri, chris-
matis, et antistitis sacraunento. Lavacro enim peccata purgantur,
chrismate S. Spiritus superfunditur, utraque vero ista manu, et
ore antistitis impetramus. Atque ita totus homo renascitur, et
renovatur in Christo.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 455
after he had sinned, as I have told you, was doomed
to death by the Lord, who said, Earth thou art,
and to earth thou shalt return. This condemna
tion descended upon all his posterity : for (sinful)
nature now urging, all men sinned, as the apostle
saith ; For by one man sin entered into the world,
and death by sin ; and so death passed upon all
men, for that all have sinned. Sin therefore had
dominion over us, and we were dragged in his
chains, as captives to death, I mean to death eternal.
But neither was this sin understood before the times
of the law, as the apostle saith ; for until the law
was given, sin was not in the world; that is, it
was not discerned, (but) revived when the law came.
It was then manifested, that it might be seen, but
in vain, because almost none kept the law. For the
law said, Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou
shalt do no murder, Thou shalt not covet; yet con
cupiscence, with all the vices attending it, remained.
Thus sin slew man before the law with a hidden
sword, under the law by a drawn one. What hope
then had man? Without the law he perished, be
cause he could not see sin, but under the law, because
he ventured upon what he did see. And this is
the marriage of the Lord with one flesh, that ac
cording to that great mystery, two might become
one flesh, Christ and the church. Of this marriage
the Christian people are born, the Spirit of the
Lord coming down from above, being poured forth
upon the substance of our souls, the heavenly seed
being also mixed with it, we grow in the belly of
our mother, and being delivered from her womb,
are quickened in Christ. Whence the apostle saith,
456 THE LIFE OF
The first Adam was made a living soul, the last
Adam a quickening spirit. Thus Christ begets in
the church by his priests, as the same apostle saith ;
But I have begotten you in Christ. And thus
Christ's seed, that is, God's Spirit, furnishes out
the new man who was prepared in the womb of his
mother, and received from the birth of the font by
the hands of the priest, yet by the assistance of
faith. For neither will he seem to be admitted into
the church who has not believed, or to be begotten by
Christ who has not received the Spirit. We must
therefore believe that it is possible for us to be born.
For so said Philip, If thou believest, thou mayest.
Christ is to be received, that he may beget, because
the apostle John saith, As many as received him, to
them gave he power to become the sons of God.
But these things cannot be accomplished otherwise
than by the sacrament of baptism, and chrism, and
the bishop. For they are purged from sin by bap
tism ; by chrism the Holy Ghost is shed upon them ;
and both these we obtain by the hand and mouth of
the bishop. And so the new man is born again,
and is renewed in Christ.
Feb. 3, 1744.
HONOURED SIR,
WHAT you see here in the beginning of this
sheet, is the passage of St. Pacian continued from
the end of the last. It happened to be preserved in
a loose paper, into which it was transcribed for me
out of that Father's works, and from thence copied
over again in the sheets which were burnt in the
sudden devouring fire, that by night consumed, in
DR. GEORGE BULL. 457
most dreadful manner, the printer's dwelling-house
and warehouses, and all that he had therein k. It is
no little trouble to me to think, that I, who ought
to deny you nothing, cannot comply with your
desire in repairing what is lost in the burnt copy.
Neither the short time the bookseller hath taken
to publish your most excellent Life of the Bishop,
nor my ill condition of health, will now suffer me to
undergo such a labour, which were I able to endure,
I should undertake with mighty pleasure, to testify
thereby the great desire and many obligations I have
to serve you, in whose conversation and friendship
I have been very happy for so many years. There
were too many particulars in the lost sheets for me
to repair at this time, with the same pains and study
as I formerly did. If you can but remember the
half of them, you will, I am sure, excuse me : pray,
sir, do but recollect upon how many subjects I was
invited to discourse upon this very citation of
St. Pacian, concerning the way whereby fallen man
recovers the supernatural principle of the Spirit of
God, by which we are regenerated and made new
men. If you can remember no more than what
from thence I discoursed on the subject of the
moral shechinah from the New Testament, and the
k [This fire took place in Bowyer's printing-house, Jan. 29,
1713. Nelson's Life of Bull and the works which accompanied
it had been all printed, or nearly so, in 1712. This fire consumed
the whole of the Life, and one thousand copies of eighteen sheets
of the Works. There is an advertisement of Bowyer extant, dated
Feb. 13, in which he expresses his hopes to reprint the lost part
in a fortnight's time : but it appears from the letter of Dr. Hickes,
that what he had written was irrecoverably lost. Nichols's Anec
dotes, vol. i. p. 55, &c.]
458 THE LIFE OF
Book of Wisdom ; of receiving the Spirit by the
ministration and prayer of the priest or bishop in
baptism, and by the imposition of the bishop's
hands, and by chrism, and in discoursing of which
I gave you my reasons, for which I thought it a
rite of the apostolical age, and wished it restored
to the church : if you can also call to mind what
I was invited to write of the dignity of the episcopal
office, and ministry, from St. Pacian's words in l the
margin, and what I wrote of repentance, by which
we recovered the Spirit again, when we had lost it
by deadly sin after baptism and confirmation, I hope
you will discharge me from the labour of making
my discourses upon them again. And if you can
remember what I wrote on the fourth or second
apocryphal book of Esdras, upon observing how
the learned bishop passed over the testimonies and
authorities of it, both in the enclosed MS. and in
his sermon of the middle state ; and also can call to
remembrance the most clear testimonies I collected
from my little book of Clemens, concerning the holy
and blessed Trinity, and the eternal generation of the
Son, begotten not made ; and his equality in essence
with the Father, and of the deity of the Holy Ghost,
which were not observed by the bishop, neither in
his Fidei Nicence Defensio, nor in his answer to
Gilbert Clerke, nor by Dr. Grabe in his additions
to the former book : I doubt not then, sir, but you
will, both in kindness and justice, excuse me from
1 Sic generat Christus, per suos sacerdotes. Hsec autem alias
compleri nequeunt nisi lavacri, chrismatis, ct antistitis sacra-
men to. Lavacro enim peccata purgantur, chrismate S. Spiritus
euperfunditur, utraque vero ista manu et ore antistitis impe-
trainus.
DR. GEORGE BULL. 459
the pains of recomposing, and collecting again, being
not in a condition to study, and bear intense think
ing. But were I able to do what you desire, the
consideration of serving you would make the pains
my greatest pleasure. But under the disability I
now am, I am sure, sir, your candour and tender
regard for me will oblige you to accept the good
will for the deed, and the desire to serve you for
the performance, from
Your much obliged
and humble servant,
GEO. HICKES.
LXXXV. The sum and substance of the fifth The sum
discourse is, that there was a covenant of life made stance of
with man in his state of innocency, and not, as some
pretend, a law imposed upon him, established only
by a threatening. For the prohibition given to
Adam concerning the not eating of the tree of
knowledge, is ushered in with this express dona
tion or grant of God, that he might freely eat
of all the rest of the trees in paradise, the tree of
life not excepted. Now it is certain, the tree of
life was so called, because it was either a sacrament
and divine sign, or else a natural means of immor
tality. And the very commination itself, in the day
thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die, manifestly
implies a promise ; this consequence being most
firm, God threateneth death to man if he eat of the
forbidden fruit ; therefore he promiseth life if he do
not eat. A full state and resolution of this matter
is given by our author from Grotius, in his approved
book, de Satisfactione, &c. The foundation being
thus laid in the proof that Adam should never have
died if he had not sinned, and that if he had continued
460 THE LIFE OF
obedient, he should have enjoyed an everlasting life ;
he thinks it easy to collect from thence, that this
life should not, nay could not, in any congruity, be
perpetuated in the earthly paradise, and that there
fore the man was in the design of God, after a certain
period of time, to have been translated to a higher
state, that is, a celestial bliss ; and that it farther
readily follows, that man, being thus designed for
such a supernatural end, must be supposed gra
dually at least to have been furnished by God with
means proportioned thereunto, which were certain
supernatural gifts and powers which we commonly
call original righteousness. The sense of the church
of God upon this subject he reduceth to two propo
sitions, which, he says, were constantly asserted and
believed by the primitive Fathers.
I. " That paradise was to Adam a type of heaven ;
" and that the never-ending life of happiness which
" was promised to our first parents, if they had con-
" tinued obedient, and had grown up to perfection
" under that economy wherein they were placed,
" should not have continued in the earthly paradise,
" but only have commenced there, and been per-
" petuated in a higher state ; that is to say, after
" such a trial of their obedience, as should seem
" sufficient to the divine wisdom, they should have
" been translated from earth to heaven."
II. " That our first parents, besides the seeds of
" natural virtue and religion sown in their minds in
" their very creation, and besides the natural inno-
" cence and rectitude wherein also they were created,
" were endowed with certain gifts and powers super-
" natural, infused by the Spirit of God, and that in
" these gifts their perfection consisted."
Now because these two theses seemed to him the
DR. GEORGE BULL. 461
two main pillars of the catholic doctrine concerning
original sin, he giveth an ample demonstration of
them out of the writings of the ancients.
The first thesis is confirmed by the testimonies of
Justin Martyr, Tatian, Irenseus, Theophilus bishop
of Antioch, Clemens of Alexandria, Tertullian, Me
thodius, St. Athanasius, St. Basil, all which authors
lived before the rise of Pelagianism, which makes
their testimonies the more considerable. Nay, the
ancient primitive church was so certain of this truth,
that she inserted the article into her public offices
and prayers, as appeareth from the prayer of conse
cration of the eucharist, in the Liturgy of Clemens,
in these words concerning Adam : m When thou
broughtest him into the paradise of pleasure, thou
gavest him free leave to eat of all the other trees,
and forbadest him to taste of one only FOR THE
HOPE OF BETTER THINGS i that, if he kept the
commandments, he might receive IMMORTALITY,
as the reward of his obedience. This Liturgy
is the most ancient now extant, and certainly
older than the Pelagian heresy, by one whole age
at least. It is confessed, that the doctors of the
church, who flourished after the Pelagian heresy was
broached, all maintained the same hypothesis ; yet,
for fuller satisfaction, testimonies are produced from
St. Austin, Prosper, Fulgentius, and Petrus Diaco-
nus, who are known to have been the chiefest anta
gonists of Pelagius. These allegations are brought
forth, not only upon the account of their authority,
but for the sake of those evident reasons, which
those ancient writers urged for the demonstration of
the point asserted.
'» Const. Apost. lib. viii. cap. 12.
462 THE LIFE OF
The second thesis he advanceth as a consequent
of the former, for the means ought to be propor
tioned and suited to the end. If therefore our first
parents had been designed only for an earthly feli
city, a supernatural gift would have been useless, or
at least unnecessary to them ; and so on the con
trary, if they were designed for a celestial bliss, it
necessarily folio weth, that they were furnished with
powers suited to the obtaining of such a supernatu
ral end. But because this latter thesis is chiefly
questioned by learned men, he proveth this assertion
from the writings of the ancients, and that some
what more copiously than he had done the former.
The testimonies he useth to this purpose are those
of Justin Martyr, Tatian, Irenseus, the author of the
ecclesiastical hierarchy, Tertullian, Cyprian, Origen,
the author of the five dialogues among the works of
Athanasius, St. Athanasius himself, the great Basil,
St. Cyril, St. Ambrose, St. Hierom, St. Austin, Pros
per, and, lastly, Fulgentius. After this, he fully
answers an objection made by the Socinians, in order
to weaken the credit and authority of these testi
monies ; for they placing the likeness and image of
God, after which the first man is said to be created,
only in his dominion over the other creatures in this
visible world, do endeavour effectually to destroy
that notion of God's image, which runs through all
the testimonies that are produced, and which those
Fathers made to consist especially in those super
natural powers, gifts, or graces, wherewith they sup
pose him to be furnished in his creation. And that
these supernatural perfections were a chief part of
the image of God, after which the first man is said
to be created, is not the fancy of Christian writers,
DR. GEORGE BULL. 463
but was a notion received and acknowledged in the
Jewish church many years before our Saviour's ap
pearance in the flesh ; as is manifest from the author
of the Book of Wisdom, and from Philo the Jew,
who bordered upon the very age of our Saviour's
incarnation. Though if we should lay aside that
reverence which is due to so consentient a judgment
of the church of God, both before and after Christ,
yet the apostle St. Paul hath evidence sufficient, if
well considered, to set us right in this point.
Moreover farther, he answereth an objection made
by Grotius, against this doctrine of the primitive
Fathers ; and in vindication of them, he proposes
himself some arguments taken from the history of
the primitive state of the first man, as it is delivered
by Moses himself, which, if not demonstrative, are
yet far more considerable than any thing that hath
been produced in defence of the contrary novel
opinion. He then proceeds to shew the great use of
this doctrine, in three considerable instances, viz.
First, In determining the nature of that original
righteousness, which was the happy portion of the
protoplast. Secondly, Tn evincing the absolute ne
cessity of divine grace in man fallen, in order to the
performance of that righteousness which is required
unto his salvation. Thirdly, Tn assuring us how
unjust that charge is which some bold men have
fastened on all the Christian writers before Pelagius,
especially on those who flourished within the three
first centuries ; namely, that they held the same
doctrine which was afterwards condemned by the
church as heretical in Pelagius, asserting a sufficiency
of man's natural powers in his lapsed estate, without
the grace of God, to perform those things which
464 THE LIFE OF DR. GEORGE BULL.
conduce to eternal life : and with these three uses
our author concludeth this excellent treatise.
I have nothing more to add but my earnest prayers
whole. to God, that, since he hath by his grace enabled me
to bring this work to a conclusion, he would farther
vouchsafe, by his blessing, to make it instrumental
towards the promoting his honour and glory in the
world. That it may in some measure tend to re
vive that truly commendable zeal, for which the first
ages of Christianity were so deservedly famous ;
" when they that were baptized continued stead-
" fastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, in
" breaking of bread, and in prayer ; praising God,
" and doing good to all men."
TO THE MOST HOLY AND UNDIVIDED TRINITY,
GOD THE FATHER, SON, AND HOLY GHOST,
BE ASCRIBED ALL HONOUR AND GLORY,
ADORATION AND WORSHIP, BOTH NOW AND
FOR EVER. AMEN.
December 3 i ,
1712.
END OF THE LIFE.
PRINCIPAL EVENTS
IN THE
LIFE OF BISHOP BULL.
A. D. Page.
Born at Wells, March 25th ^34 5
Went to School at Wells 7
Tiverton
Entered at Exeter College, July i oth 1 648 9
Retired to North Cadbury 14
Removed to Ubley
Ordained
Presented to St. George's, near Bristol
Married T 658
Presented to Suddington St. Mary J^S 41
St. Peter 1662 44
Published the Harmonia Apostolica 1 669 79
• Examen Censurce
Made Prebendary of Gloucester 1678
Published the Defensio Fidei Nicence ^85 242
Presented to Avening 1 685 298
Appointed archdeacon of Llandaff 1 686
Took the degree of D. D 1686
Published the Judicium Ecclesi<z Catholicce... 1694 314
Latin works edited by Grabe 1 703 342
Made bishop of St. David's 1 705 347
Died 1710
LIFE OF BULL. H h
INDEX.
ABERGUILLY, 356.
Abermarless, 373, 376, 404.
Absolution, 393.
Ackland, Mr. B. 9, 14.
Adderley, Mr. E. 407.
Alsop, Mr. 224.
Amyraldus, 168.
Antinomians, 31,82,130,221,235.
Arians, 240, 259, 261.
Arminius, 271.
Arundel, Lord, 422, 426.
Avening, 39, 298, 373.
Baptism, 34, 53, 366.
Barlow, Dr. 90, 181, 1 88, 216.
Bately, Dr. 302.
Bates, Dr. 224, 226.
Baxter, R. 208, 214, 220, 442.
Bellartnin, 209, 272.
Beveridge, Bishop, 355, 422.
Booth, Sir G. 43.
Bossuet, 250, 256, 293, 327, 332,
406, 414.
Bowyer, 343, 457.
Brecknock, 356, 373, 375, 390,
404, 405.
Bridges, R. 178.
Bridgman, Lord Keeper, 12.
Brigstock, O. Esq. 177.
Bull, Anne, 399.
family of, 5.
G. junior, 58, 351.
Mrs. 39, 405, 407.
R. i, 401, 407, 411.
W. 18.
Butler, Mr. S. 8.
Caermarthen, 376, 384, 386.
Calvin, 270.
Cartwright, Mr. C. 221.
Catechising, 52, 308, 359.
Censura, 89.
Chapman, Dr. 407.
I Charity schools, 73, 380.
i Chauncy, Dr. 224, 225, 232.
Chedzoy, 19.
Chillingworth, 22.
Cirencester, 37, 43, 69.
Clarendon, Lord, 44.
Clarke, Dr. 275.
Clerke, G. 334, 426, 428, 435.
Clifford, Lord Treasurer, 12.
Clyro, 399.
Cornenius, 335.
Conant, Dr. 10.
Confirmation, 360.
Councils, 251.
Crandon, Mr. J. 220.
Creed, Apostles', 321.
Hierosolymitan, 324.
Crisp, Dr. 210, 222.
Cudworth, 289.
Curcellseus, 246, 250, 252, 317,
334-
Defensio Fidei Nicenae, 239.
De Marets, 218, 246.
Divinity, study of, 20.
Doddington, Mrs. E. 6.
Doughty, Rev. Mr. 423.
Dry field, i, 49.
Dunch, Lady, 69.
Edwards, Dr. J. 230, 284.
Engagement, The, 13.
Episcopius, 152, 156, 246, 257, 314.
Estius, 133.
Examen Censurse, 127, 196.
Eyre, Mr. W. 220.
Faith, 109.
INDEX.
467
Familists, 130
Fell, Bishop, 242, 306.
Fiennes, 214.
Fowler, Bishop, 438.
Frampton, Bishop, 78.
Gataker, Charles, 91, 121, 135,142.
Thomas, 91, 121, 139.
Glanvil, Mr. 79.
Good Friday, 55.
Grabe, Dr. 333, 343, 426.
Gregory, Rev. A. 37, 41, 43,
326.
Griffith, Mr. 225.
Grindal, Archbishop, 305.
Hale, Sir M. 72, 407.
Hall, Rev. Mr. 25.
Hammond, Dr. 19, 146, 152, 156,
161, 162, 164, 166.
Hanger, G. Esq. 178, 326.
Harmonia Apostolica, 79.
Havard, Rev. Mr. 394, 401.
Hayward, al. Roberts, 69.
Hewlings, Eliz. 69.
Hickes, Dr. 329, 439.
Hobbes, 442.
Holydays, 54.
Holy Ghost, 259.
Hoornbechius, 335.
How, Mr. 224, 226.
Huetius, 281.
Impropriations, 368.
Jane, Dr. 242, 306.
Jeanes, Rev. H. 19.
Judicium Ecclesise Catholica?, 314.
Jurieu, 294.
Justification, 80, 92, 189.
Lawson, Mr. G. 221.
Le Clerc, 319.
Libertines, 130.
Liturgy, 33, 46.
Lob, Mr. S. 225, 234.
Long, Rev. T. 319.
Lord's Supper, 53, 77, 414.
Lucy, Bishop, 404.
Lupton, Dr. 419.
Manwaring, Bishop, 404.
Maresius, 218, 246.
Marshal, Rev. N. 346.
Master, Sir W. 35, 37.
Mather, Mr. 224.
Morgan, Mr. 35.
Morley, Bishop, 89, 188.
Mortuaries, 373.
Moulin, L. du, 216.
Naked Gospel, 318.
Nelson, R. i, 49, 67, 326, 406.
Newburgh, Countess of, 66.
Nichols, Rev. W. 319.
Nicholson, Bishop, 44, 70, 80,
1 20, 126, 1 66, 176, 204.
North Cadbury, 14.
Nottingham, Earl of, 237.
Option, 304.
Ordination, 23, 308, 361.
Oxford, 9, 36, 293, 306.
Earl of, 346.
Parker, Mr. J. 407.
Parsons, Archdeacon, 423, 425.
Patrick, Bishop, 216.
Pearson, Bishop, 78, 204, 275.
Pelagianism, 85, 134, 167, 442,
461.
Pemble, Rev. W. 213.
Petavius, 243, 250, 258, 272.
Philips, Rev. Mr. 394.
Pool, Lady, 41.
Popery, 67, 310.
Popham, Lord Chief Justice, 8.
Possevin, 272.
Powel, Rev. W. 357, 358.
Prayers, 47, 56, 58, 358, 375, 379,
4i5-
Presbyters, 21.
Prichard, Mr. R. 404.
Prideaux, Bishop, u.
Psalms, Version of, 61.
Quakers, 25, 27, 68.
Remonstrants, 257.
Residence, 388.
Roberts, al. Hayward, 69.
Sampson, Archbishop, 351.
Sancroft, Archbishop, 302.
Sanderson, Bishop, 33, 164, 185,
216.
Sandius, 241, 244, 253, 258, 334,
429.
Schools, Charity, 73, 380.
Sectaries, 32, 44, 220.
Sermons, 26, 43, 48, 63, 358,
401, 411.
Shapwick, 5, 6.
Sharp, Archbishop, 23, 238, 347.
Sheppard, Mr. P. 298.
Sherlock, Bishop, 290, 292, 319,
423-
Showers, Mr. 224.
Skinner, Bishop, 21.
Smalridge, Dr. 346.
Socinians, 240, 258.
South, Dr. 292, 319, 423.
St. David's, 350.
St. George's 25, 82.
INDEX.
Stephens, Archdeacon, 40, 79, 299,
357' 394. 399> 400, 406, 438.
E. Esq. 407.
Stillingfleet, Bishop, 216, 226,
229, 235, 426.
Stone, Mr. 41.
Suddington, St. Mary, 41, 399.
St. Peter, 44, 296,
373> 399-
Tawstock, 352.
Taylor, Bishop, 23, 152, 156.
Tenison, Archbishop, 347.
Archdeacon, 376. -
Testimonials, 308.
Thomas, Rev. W. 19.
S. 20, 181.
Tillotson, Archbishop, 239.
Tiverton School, 8.
Tombes, Mr. J. 91, 210, 212.
Truman, Mr. J. 91, 140, 145, 147,
!75.
Tully, Dr. 90, 91, 182, 187, 194,
221.
Ubley, 19.
Usher, Archbishop, 321.
Visitation, 357.
Vossius, 321, 323.
Wading, 315.
Wakes, 309.
Wallis, Dr. 221.
Warren, Mr. J. 221.
Watson, Bishop, 347.
Waugh, Dr. 350.
Wells, 5, 7.
Wharton, J. 407.
Whiston, 286.
Whitby, Dr. 291.
Whitgift, Archbishop, 306.
Williams, Mr. D. 221, 223, 225,
233-
Wollebius, 20.
Works, 1 1 6.
Wrey, Sir B. 352.
Zuicker, 249, 252, 258, 333, 429.
Zwinglius, 132.
DATE DUE
78-3851,